The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets

Abstract Background High-dose chemotherapy for neuroblastoma is often intolerable for children, and its effectiveness is difficult to determine. Immunotherapy has become a popular research focus as a potential treatment. Therefore, identifying effective immune targets and drug synergistic chemothera...

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Main Authors: Yunfei Ma, Yan Su, Jing Huang, Wen Zhao, Cheng Huang, Jing Qin, Shengjie You, Yan Hu, Xin Ni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-08-01
Series:BMC Medical Genomics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12920-025-02185-6
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author Yunfei Ma
Yan Su
Jing Huang
Wen Zhao
Cheng Huang
Jing Qin
Shengjie You
Yan Hu
Xin Ni
author_facet Yunfei Ma
Yan Su
Jing Huang
Wen Zhao
Cheng Huang
Jing Qin
Shengjie You
Yan Hu
Xin Ni
author_sort Yunfei Ma
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background High-dose chemotherapy for neuroblastoma is often intolerable for children, and its effectiveness is difficult to determine. Immunotherapy has become a popular research focus as a potential treatment. Therefore, identifying effective immune targets and drug synergistic chemotherapy against neuroblastoma is crucial. Methods We conducted proteomics exploratory analysis of urine from 12 neuroblastoma before and after chemotherapy. The immune-related differential proteins before and after chemotherapy were obtained through differential expression analysis and dynamic expression model analysis. The ESTIMATE and ssGSEA analyses used indirectly infer the characteristics of the immune microenvironment. Gene ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis were conducted to reveal the biological functions of the candidate genes. Results Immune analysis indicated that the immunosuppressive state in neuroblastoma patients caused by chemotherapy was closely related to CD8 T cells. Chemotherapy-associated differentially expressed proteins were significantly enriched in the mTOR signaling pathway. Neuroblastoma chemotherapy can significantly inhibit the expression of SEMA7A protein, and it is closely related to CD8T cell infiltration. Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin acting on SEMA7A was predicted using CTD databases. Conclusions This study combines proteomics and bioinformatics to predict and explore potential immune targets for synergistic chemotherapy against neuroblastoma, providing a new direction for clinical treatment that warrant further validation.
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spelling doaj-art-460253a2b31d4794be1e3de770dae2ce2025-08-24T11:56:20ZengBMCBMC Medical Genomics1755-87942025-08-0118111310.1186/s12920-025-02185-6The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targetsYunfei Ma0Yan Su1Jing Huang2Wen Zhao3Cheng Huang4Jing Qin5Shengjie You6Yan Hu7Xin Ni8Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthDepartment of Medical Oncology, Pediatric Oncology Center, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthPediatric Deparment of Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesDepartment of Medical Oncology, Pediatric Oncology Center, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthDepartment of Medical Oncology, Pediatric Oncology Center, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthDepartment of Medical Oncology, Pediatric Oncology Center, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthDepartment of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthDepartment of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthDepartment of National Center for Pediatric Cancer Surveillance, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s HealthAbstract Background High-dose chemotherapy for neuroblastoma is often intolerable for children, and its effectiveness is difficult to determine. Immunotherapy has become a popular research focus as a potential treatment. Therefore, identifying effective immune targets and drug synergistic chemotherapy against neuroblastoma is crucial. Methods We conducted proteomics exploratory analysis of urine from 12 neuroblastoma before and after chemotherapy. The immune-related differential proteins before and after chemotherapy were obtained through differential expression analysis and dynamic expression model analysis. The ESTIMATE and ssGSEA analyses used indirectly infer the characteristics of the immune microenvironment. Gene ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis were conducted to reveal the biological functions of the candidate genes. Results Immune analysis indicated that the immunosuppressive state in neuroblastoma patients caused by chemotherapy was closely related to CD8 T cells. Chemotherapy-associated differentially expressed proteins were significantly enriched in the mTOR signaling pathway. Neuroblastoma chemotherapy can significantly inhibit the expression of SEMA7A protein, and it is closely related to CD8T cell infiltration. Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin acting on SEMA7A was predicted using CTD databases. Conclusions This study combines proteomics and bioinformatics to predict and explore potential immune targets for synergistic chemotherapy against neuroblastoma, providing a new direction for clinical treatment that warrant further validation.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12920-025-02185-6NeuroblastomaChemotherapyProteomicsImmune functionBioinformatics
spellingShingle Yunfei Ma
Yan Su
Jing Huang
Wen Zhao
Cheng Huang
Jing Qin
Shengjie You
Yan Hu
Xin Ni
The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets
BMC Medical Genomics
Neuroblastoma
Chemotherapy
Proteomics
Immune function
Bioinformatics
title The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets
title_full The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets
title_fullStr The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets
title_full_unstemmed The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets
title_short The changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets
title_sort changes of immune function after neuroblastoma chemotherapy and the prediction of potential immune targets
topic Neuroblastoma
Chemotherapy
Proteomics
Immune function
Bioinformatics
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12920-025-02185-6
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