A prognosis marker MUC1 correlates with metabolism and drug resistance in bladder cancer: a bioinformatics research

BACKGROUND: MUC1 is a type I transmembrane protein that plays an important role in tumor cell signal transduction. Although current studies have shown that MUC1 is upregulated in bladder cancer (BC), the specific mechanism is still unclear. METHODS: We performed expression analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, survival analysis, immune infiltration analysis, drug sensitivity analysis, and metabolism-related gene expression analysis on TCGA-BLCA, GES31684 and GSE13507. RESULTS: The expression of MUC1 in the tumor and lymphatic metastasis positive samples was significantly increased. Genes related to MUC1 expression were significantly enriched in immune response, ribosomes, exosomes, and energy metabolism. The results of the immune infiltration analysis showed that M1 macrophages in BC with high MUC1 expression were significantly decreased. Expression of MUC1 increases drug resistance in BC patients. In addition, MUC1 increases glycolysis, glucose uptake, and lactate production by inducing metabolic reprogramming. CONCLUSION: MUC1 has a significant effect on the metabolism and immune cell infiltration of BC, which may be the cause of increased drug resistance, and can be used as a molecular target for the diagnosis and treatment of BC.