A novel risk signature with 6 RNA binding proteins for prognosis prediction in patients with glioblastoma

Recent studies suggested that RNA binding proteins (RBPs) were related to the tumorigenesis and progression of glioma. This study was conducted to identify prognostic RBPs of glioblastoma (GBM) and construct an RBP signature to predict the prognosis of GBM. Univariate Cox regression analysis was carried out to identify the RBPs associated with overall survival of GBM in the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), GSE16011, and Repository for Molecular Brain Neoplasia data (Rembrandt) datasets, respectively. Overlapping RBPs from the TCGA, GSE16011, and Rembrandt datasets were selected. The biological role of prognostic RBPs was assessed by Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and protein–protein interaction analyses. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to construct an RBP-related risk signature. The prognostic value of RBP signature was measured by Kaplan–Meier method and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve. A nomogram based on independent prognostic factors was established to predict survival for GBM. The CGGA cohort was used as the validation cohort for external validation. This study identified 27 RBPs associated with the prognosis of GBM and constructed a 6-RPBs signature. Kaplan–Meier curves suggested that high-risk score was associated with a poor prognosis. Area under the curve of 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival was 0.618, 0.728, and 0.833 for TCGA cohort, 0.655, 0.909, and 0.911 for GSE16011 cohort, and 0.665, 0.792, and 0.781 for Rembrandt cohort, respectively. A nomogram with 4 parameters (age, chemotherapy, O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase promoter status, and risk score) was constructed. The calibration curve showed that the nomogram prediction was in good agreement with the actual observation. The 6-RBPs signature could effectively predict the prognosis of GBM, and our findings supplemented the prognostic index of GBM to a certain extent.