Abstract
PURPOSES: T cells play a crucial role as regulators of anti-tumor activity within the tumor microenvironment (TME) and are closely associated with the progression of osteosarcoma (OS). Nevertheless, the specific role of T cell-related genes (TCRGs) in the pathogenesis of OS remains unclear. METHODS: First, we processed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data of OS from the public databases and performed cell annotation. We identified highly variable genes in each cell type using the "FindAllMarkers" function, explored the distribution of different clusters, and investigated inter-cellular communication patterns via the "CellChat" framework. Then, we used multivariate Cox analysis to construct a TCRG and developed a nomogram to predict survival probabilities for OS patients. Finally, we validated the aforementioned results using various cell lines and investigated the immune cell infiltration, expression of immune checkpoints, chemotherapy sensitivity, and the efficacy of targeted therapies across different risk groups. RESULTS: From the scRNA-seq data, we identified 3,000 highly variable genes, presented the top 10 genes, and validated the expression of core genes across different cell lines.Moreover, our analysis delved into interactions between T cells and other cell types. Our analyses constructed a predictive T cell-related signature (TCRS) that incorporated these prognostic TCRGs, showing a clear prognostic separation between the high-risk and low-risk OS patient groups in multiple cohorts. Survival analysis indicated better outcomes for patients classified in the high-risk group. The low-risk group exhibited elevated levels of CD4 memory resting T cells, contrasting with the higher levels of macrophage M0 observed in the high-risk group via the CIBERSORT algorithm. Furthermore, we observed that the low-risk group exhibitedAQ1 significant up-regulation of immune checkpoint genes (ICGs) and lower Tumour Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) scores, suggesting that they may be suitable for immunotherapy. Conversely, the high-risk group appeared more responsive to chemotherapy and targeted therapies, according to our drug sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study identified TCRGs, constructed and validated a TCRS for OS, and assessed immune response and drug sensitivity in different risk groups of OS patients. These findings provide novel insights into personalized treatment strategies for OS, potentially guiding more effective therapeutic interventions.