MRPL13 Act as a Novel Therapeutic Target and Could Promote Cell Proliferation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND: The latent involvement of MRPL13 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the role of MRPL13 in NSCLC. METHODS: All analyses were performed in R software 4.0, SPSS version 23, and GraphPad Prism 8. The “limma” package was used to identify differentially expressed genes. Univariate and multivariate cox analyses were used to identify prognosis-related genes. A549 and H1299 lung cancer cell lines were selected for phenotypic experiments. RESULTS: The high level of MRPL13 was correlated with poor T classification and overall survival. In vitro experiments showed that MRPL13 was highly expressed in NSCLC tissue and cell lines. MRPL13 knockdown inhibited the proliferation of lung cancer A549 and H1299 cell lines, which was further validated by in vivo experiment. Moreover, GSEA analysis suggested that the pathway of MYC target, PI3K/AKT/mTOR/ signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, and G2/M checkpoints may be the potential pathway where MRPL13 was involved. Meanwhile, MRPL13 demonstrated a negative correlation with M1 macrophage, CD8+ T cells, and CD4+ T cells, making it an underlying immunotherapy target of NSCLC. CONCLUSION: MRPL13 may promote the proliferation of NSCLC cells and serve as an independent tumor marker and an emerging therapeutic target.