Integrated analysis of scRNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq reveals that GPRC5A is an important prognostic gene in pancreatic cancer - and is associated with B cell infiltration in pancreatic cancer

Sep 21, 2026

Pancreatic cancer remains a lethal solid tumor with limited curative options and poor long-term survival. This study integrates GEO single-cell chip data with TCGA clinical information to identify genes linked to prognosis and immune infiltration, building a multifactor Cox model using Cox and Lasso regression. RT-PCR validation and TIMER analysis assess relationships between prognostic gene expression and T/B cell infiltration, while tissue chips confirm GPRC5A overexpression and its association with adverse outcomes and B cell infiltration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Methods

Data sources and analysis strategy

Prognostic modeling and validation

Results

Conclusion

TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 03 April 2024 DOI 10.3389/fonc.2024.1283164 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Maen Abdelrahim, Houston Methodist Research Institute, United States REVIEWED BY Lang Wu, University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States Rajesh Valanparambil, Emory University, United States *CORRESPONDENCE Wence Zhou [zhouwc129@163.com](zhouwc129@163.com) RECEIVED 25 August 2023 ACCEPTED 23 February 2024 PUBLISHED 03 April 2024 CITATION Dong C, Ma H, Mi N, Fu W, Yi J, Gao L, Wang H, Ren Y, Lin Y, Han F, Chen Zand Zhou W (2024) Integrated analysis ofscRNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq reveals that GPRC5A is an important prognostic gene in pancreatic cancer and is associated with Bcell Inﬁltration in pancreatic cancer. Front. Oncol. 14:1283164 . doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1283164 COPYRIGHT © 2024 Dong, Ma, Mi, Fu, Yi, Gao, Wang, Ren, Lin, Han, Chen and Zhou. This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Integrated analysis of scRNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq reveals that GPRC5A is an important prognostic gene in pancreatic cancer and is associated with Bcell Inﬁltration in pancreatic cancer Chunlu Dong 1,2, Haidong Ma 1, Ningning Mi 1, Wenkang Fu 1, Jianfeng Yi 1,3, Long Gao 1, Haiping Wang 1,2, Yanxian Ren 1,2, Yanyan Lin 1,2, Fangfang Han 1,2, Zhou Chen 1,2 and Wence Zhou 1,4* 1The First School of Clinical Medicine of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China, 2The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China, 3 Department of Surgery, The First School of Clinical Medicine of Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu, China, 4 Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, Gansu, China Introduction: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignancy with poor prognosis. This investigation aimed to determine the relevant genes that affect the prognosis of PC and investigate their relationship with immune inﬁltration. Methods: : First, we acquired PC single-cell chip data from the GEO database to scrutinize dissimilarities in immune cell inﬁltration and differential genes between cancerous and adjacent tissues. Subsequently, we combined clinical data from TCGA to identify genes relevant to PC prognosis. Employing Cox and Lasso regression analyses, we constructed a multifactorial Cox prognostic model, which we subsequently conﬁrmed. The prognostic gene expression in PC was authenticated using RT-PCR. Moreover, we employed the TIMER online database to examine the relationship between the expression of prognostic genes and T and B cell inﬁltration. Additionally, the expression of GPRC5A and its correlation with B cells inﬁltration and patient prognosis were ascertained in tissue chips using multiple immune ﬂuorescence staining. Results: The single-cell analysis unveiled dissimilarities in B-cell inﬁltration between cancerous and neighboring tissues. We developed a prognostic model utilizing three genes, indicating that patients with high-risk scores experienced a more unfavorable prognosis . Immune inﬁltration analysis revealed a signiﬁcant correlation among YWHAZ, GPRC5A, and B cell immune inﬁltration. In tissue samples, GPRC5A exhibited substantial overexpression and a robust association with an adverse prognosis, demonstrating a positive correlation with B cell inﬁltration. Frontiers in Oncology 01 [frontiersin.org](frontiersin.org) Conclusion: GPRC5A is an independent risk factor in PC and correlated with B cell immune inﬁltration in PC. These outcomes indicated that GPRC5A is a viable target for treating PC. KEYWORDS pancreatic cancer, single-cell, immune inﬁltration, B cell, Gprc5a

FAQs

What is the main goal of this study on pancreatic cancer?

To identify prognostic genes influencing pancreatic cancer outcomes and to clarify how these genes relate to immune infiltration, particularly B cells.

How were single-cell and bulk RNA-seq datasets used in the analysis?

Single-cell chip data from GEO were used to examine immune cell infiltration differences and differential genes, and TCGA clinical data were combined to select genes relevant to prognosis.

What role does GPRC5A play according to the results?

GPRC5A shows substantial overexpression and is strongly associated with an adverse prognosis, with a positive correlation to B cell infiltration; it is an independent risk factor.

Sep 21, 2026

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