Ferredoxin 1, the key regulator of cuproptosis, was associated with prognosis and immune cell infiltration in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Abstract According to a number of studies, the occurrence and progression clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), among the most prevalent cancerous tumors of the urinary bladder, may be inextricable from metabolism and immunology. The recent discovery of cuproptosis revealed a novel cell death mechanism based on mitochondrial respiration and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and cuproptosis is strongly linked to the metabolic process. The cuproptosis process is different from the previously revealed cell death processes such as pyroptosis, apoptosis and ferroptosis, which is expected to provide a new perspective in the study of tumor mechanism. Here we aim to explore the important role of key regulators of cuproptosis in renal cancer using a combination of bioinformatics and experimental validation. We found that Ferredoxin 1 (FDX1) was related to the infiltration of various immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and the response to immunotherapy in ccRCC. At the same time, the experiment confirmed that FDX1 was significantly lower in ccRCC, which was consistent with the previous analysis results. In conclusions, FDX1 was expected to be an important marker of immune infiltration, immunotherapy, and tumor prognosis in ccRCC.