FKBP3, a poor prognostic indicator, promotes the progression of LUAD via regulating ferroptosis and immune infiltration

Background: Ferroptosis was reported to possess the therapeutic potentials in various human cancers. In the present study, we explored the expression, clinical significance and the molecular mechanism of FK506 binding protein 3 (FKBP3) in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Material and Method: Cox regression was performed to obtain the prognosis related to differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in LUAD datasets from TCGA. We also downloaded the ferroptosis-related gene datasets from GeneCards. Venn diagram was performed to find the intersecting genes and FKBP3 was selected as the targeted gene by analyzing the diagnostic and prognostic values of Top10 intersecting genes. Moreover, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the association between clinicopathological factors and survival rates. GO/KEGG and GSEA analysis was performed to explore the function of FKBP3 in LUAD progression. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was performed via STRING database and the top10 hub genes were selected. Finally, the relationship between FKBP3 and immune infiltration was explored by ssGSEA analysis. Results: Firstly, 184 genes associated with the prognosis of LUAD and ferroptosis were obtained. FKBP3 was found to be significantly associated with a poor overall survival rate of LUAD patients. Immunohistochemical staining results showed that FKBP3 was highly located in cytoplasm and membrane of cells in LUAD tissues. PPI network analysis results showed that HDAC1, YY1, HDAC2, MTOR, PSMA3, PIN1, NCL, C14orf166, PIN4, and LARP6 were the top10 hub genes. Furthermore, spearman analysis results showed that the expression of FKBP3 was positively correlated with the abundance of Th2 cells and T helper cells. Conclusion: High level of FKBP3 was associated with poor prognostic outcomes of LUAD patients, which also inhibited immune infiltration in LUAD tissues. Additionally, FKBP3 was involved in regulating the ferroptosis process in LUAD patients. Thus, FKBP3 possessed the tumor promotion role might be involving in regulating ferroptosis and immune infiltration in LUAD progression.