POLRMT over‐expression is linked to WNT/beta‐catenin signaling, immune infiltration, and unfavorable outcomes in lung adenocarcinoma patients

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial RNA polymerase (POLRMT) is essential for the expression of mitochondrial genes. In recent studies, POLRMT expression promoted non‐small cell cancer cell proliferation in cell lines and xenografts. The present study investigated the impact of POLRMT expression and function on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients. METHOD: Multi‐omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics) from publicly available databases were used to assess the role of POLRMT expression and function in LUAD. These findings were further verified using cancer tissues from clinical samples. RESULTS: POLRMT was over‐expressed in LUADs, with mutation frequencies ranging from 1.30% to 5.71%. Over‐expression of POLRMT was associated with an abnormal clinicopathological condition resulting in a decreased lifespan. Furthermore, gene sets enrich analysis revealed that POLRMT expression was linked to WNT/beta‐catenin signaling; the expression of downstream target genes was positively correlated with POLRMT expression. Also, POLRMT expression was positively correlated with immunosuppressive genes, thereby affecting immune infiltration. CONCLUSION: POLRMT is over‐expressed in LUAD, thereby impacting patient survival. It is also involved in WNT/beta‐catenin signaling and may affect tumor infiltration.