Construction of a Prognostic Model of Prostate Cancer Based on Immune and Metabolic Genes and Experimental Validation of the Gene AK5.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the fact that prostate cancer is one of the most common tumors in men, this study intends to evaluate the predictive significance of immune and metabolic genes in prostate cancer using multi-omics data and experimental validation. METHODS: The research developed and validated a prognostic model utilizing The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, integrating immune and metabolic gene sets. Additionally, the prognostic gene Adenylate Kinase 5 (AK5) was analyzed in prostate cancer tissue microarrays from Ruijin Hospital. The functional role of the AK5 gene was validated through knockdown and overexpression experiments in four prostate cancer cell lines, employing cell proliferation assays, colony formation assays, and both xenograft models in nude mice and patient-derived xenograft models. RESULTS: This research developed a prognostic model comprising ten genes, which was validated across multiple datasets for its predictive efficacy. Experimental results indicated that AK5 is significantly expressed in prostate cancer and facilitates tumor proliferation; knockdown of AK5 inhibited cell colony formation and growth of subcutaneous xenografts in nude mice, while AK5 inhibitors significantly reduced tumor volume in patient-derived xenografts. CONCLUSION: This study constructed a prognostic model with clinical potential and preliminarily confirmed the oncogenic role of AK5 in prostate cancer. The findings indicate that focusing on the immunological metabolic axis and the AK5 gene may offer novel approaches for prostate cancer treatment.