ArticleFrontiers in immunology2025
Integrating bioinformatics and experimental validation to reveal a novel VRK score as a prognostic and therapeutic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Network pharmacology, bioinformatics and in vitro/in vivo validation elucidate the anti-lung cancer activities and potential targets of Rhoifolin.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Vaccinia-related kinase (VRK) family genes play a multifunctional role in tumor development. However, the role of VRK family genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) requires further research. Moreover, the clinical potential of the VRK-related model remains unclear. The aim of this study is to construct a VRK-related model to predict HCC prognosis and therapeutic efficacy. Methods: The data of HCC patients were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. The single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) algorithm was used to calculate the VRK score of each sample. Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource 2.0 (TIMER 2.0) and Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) were used to evaluate immune cell infiltration and the immune checkpoint response. pRRophetic was used for predicting drug sensitivity. CCK-8, colony formation, wound healing, transwell and xenograft assays were used to experimentally validate the biofunction of VRK2 in HCC. Results: We found that all VRK family genes were highly expressed in HCC. Compared with patients with low VRK scores, patients with high VRK1 or VRK2 expression in the TCGA, ICGC, and GSE14520 cohorts had poorer outcomes. Moreover, patients with a high VRK score in the TCGA, ICGC, and GSE14520 cohorts also had poorer outcomes. Importantly, Cox analysis revealed that the VRK score was a potential independent risk factor for HCC. Notably, TIMER2.0 and TIDE suggested that patients with high VRK scores had higher immune checkpoint response rates. Similarly, drug sensitivity analyses suggested that patients with high VRK scores were more resistant to sorafenib, paclitaxel, cisplatin, and gemcitabine. Finally, experimental validation revealed that VRK2 knockdown inhibited HCC development Conclusion: The VRK score was found to be a reliable indicator for predicting HCC prognosis and therapeutic efficacy. VRK2 is a potential therapeutic target for HCC.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.