Pan-cancer analysis combined with experiments explores the oncogenic role of spindle apparatus coiled-coil protein 1 (SPDL1)

BACKGROUND: The function of spindle apparatus coiled-coil protein 1 (SPDL1) as a cancer-promoting gene has been reported in a number of studies. However, the pan-cancer analysis of SPDL1 is still lacking. Here, we performed this pan-cancer analysis to evaluate the expression and prognostic value of SPDL1 and gain insights into the association between SPDL1 and immune infiltration. METHODS: In this study, based on the datasets of The cancer genome atlas (TCGA), Gene expression omnibus (GEO), The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC), we used R4.1.0 software and the online tools, including TIMER2.0, GEPIA2, cBioPortal, Modbase, UALCAN, MEXPRESS, STRING, Ensembl, NCBI, HPA, Oncomine, PhosphoNET and the Kaplan-Meier plotter, to explore the potential oncogenic roles of SPDL1. The expression of SPDL1 was also further verified by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tissues. RESULTS: SPDL1 was overexpressed in most tumors compared with adjacent normal tissues, and SPDL1 expression was significantly correlated with the prognosis in most tumor types. The main type of genetic mutation of SPDL1 was missense mutation and the frequency of R318Q/W mutation was highest (4/119). The expression of SPDL1 was closely associated with genomic instability. The SPDL1 phosphorylation levels in S555 was enhanced in ovarian cancer. The SPDL1 expression was positively correlated with the immune infiltration of CD8+ T-cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in most of the tumor types. Nuclear division, organelle fission and chromosome segregation were involved in the functional mechanisms of SPDL1. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that SPDL1 might serve as a biomarker for poor prognosis and immune infiltration in cancers, shedding new light on therapeutics of cancers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-022-02461-w.