Prognostic model based on calcium-related genes predicts prognosis and reveals the immune landscape of acute myeloid leukemia.

Abstract

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) exhibits heterogeneous outcomes and lacks reliable prognostic markers. As a critical regulator of cell fate, calcium signaling's prognostic value in AML requires investigation. This study aims to construct a calcium-related gene (CRG)-based prognostic model for AML. Differential analysis on RNA-seq data was conducted for AML from TCGA and GEO. Intersecting differentially expressed genes and CRGs yielded AML-associated differentially expressed CRGs (DECRGs). A prognostic model was developed through univariate/multivariate Cox regression and LASSO, and validated in a GEO dataset. Bioinformatics analyses explored the links between risk groups and immune characteristics, genomic mutations, and drug sensitivity. Key genes' effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation were verified in vitro using CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry. The 13-DECRG-based model distinguished high- and low-risk patients in both training and validation cohorts, with high-risk patients showing a worse prognosis. The risk score was an independent prognostic factor. Immune analysis revealed a unique immune microenvironment for the high-risk group. CAMK2A overexpression inhibited cell proliferation and colony-forming ability, promoted cell apoptosis, and induced an increased proportion of CD11b- and CD14-positive cells. In vitro experiments indicated CAMK2A-induced suppression of AML cells' malignant phenotype by activating the P53 signaling pathway. An AML CRG-based model with favorable risk stratification performance was constructed. In vitro experiments revealed CAMK2A-induced inhibition of the malignant phenotype via suppressing proliferation, promoting apoptosis, and facilitating myeloid differentiation in AML cells. This study provides novel evidence for understanding CRGs in AML as well as the potential functions of CAMK2A.