Pan-Cancer Analysis of the TRP Family, Especially TRPV4 and TRPC4, and Its Expression Correlated with Prognosis, Tumor Microenvironment, and Treatment Sensitivity

Background: Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are involved in various physiological, pathological, and tumorigenesis-related processes. However, only a few studies have comprehensively analyzed TRP family members and their association with prognosis and tumor microenvironment (TME) in various cancers. Thus, in this study, we focused on TRP channels in pan-cancer and screened two typical TRP channels, TRPV4 and TRPC4, as examples. Methods: Based on the latest public databases, we evaluated the expression level and prognostic value of TRP family genes in pan-cancer tissues via various bioinformatic analytical methods, and investigated the relationship between the expression of TRP family genes with TME, stemness score, immune subtype, drug sensitivity, and immunotherapy outcome in pan-cancer tissues. Results: Pan-cancer analysis revealed that the TRP family genes were differentially expressed in tumor and para-carcinoma tissues. A significant correlation existed between the expression of TRP family genes and prognosis. The expression of TRP family genes was significantly correlated with stromal, immune, RNA stemness, and DNA stemness scores in pan-cancer tissues. Our results indicated that the expression of TRP family genes correlated with the sensitivity to various drugs including PLX-4720, SB-590885, and HYPOTHEMYCIN, immunotherapy outcome, and immune-activation-related genes. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed significant differential expression of TRPV4 in bladder and para-carcinoma tissues. Conclusions: Our study elucidated the possible role of TRP family genes in cancer progression and provided insights for further studies on TRP family genes as potential pan-cancer targets to develop diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.