Overexpression of SH2D1A promotes cancer progression and is associated with immune cell infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma via bioinformatics and in vitro study

BACKGROUND: SH2 domain containing 1A (SH2D1A) expression has been linked to cancer progression. However, the functions of SH2D1A in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been reported. METHODS: The effects of SH2D1A on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells and the related pathways were re-explored in cell models with SH2D1A overexpression using the CCK-8, migration and invasion assays and western blotting. The functions and mechanisms of genes co-expressed with SH2D1A were analyzed using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. The relationship between SH2D1A expression and immune microenvironment features in HCC was explored. RESULTS: Elevated SH2D1A expression promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, which was related to the overexpression of p-Nf-κB and BCL2A1 protein levels in HCC. SH2D1A expression was related to the immune, stromal, and ESTIMATE scores, and the abundance of immune cells, such as B cells, CD8(+) T cells, and T cells. SH2D1A expression was significantly related to the expression of immune cell markers, such as PDCD1, CD8A, and CTLA4 in HCC. CONCLUSION: SH2D1A overexpression was found to promote cell growth and metastasis via the Nf-κB signaling pathway and may be related to the immune microenvironment in HCC. The findings indicate that SH2D1A can function as a biomarker in HCC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-023-11315-1.