A comprehensive analysis reveals the therapeutic value of TRPV1 in cancers

Abstract Background Transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1) plays a pivotal role in neurons and is closely related to pain transduction. However, the role of TRPV1 in pan-cancer remains unclear. Methods Data visualization was performed using TCGA, GETx, GEPIA2, TIMER, TISIDB, DiseaseMeth, GeneMANIA, GSEA, and Depmap Portal database and R language. Results We explored the pan-cancer expression patterns and prognostic value of TRPV1 across multiple databases and found that TRPV1 served as a tumor suppressor in most cancers. In particular, genetic alteration and DNA methylation analysis across 33 tumors revealed that gene deletion and DNA hypermethylation may contribute to its downregulation. We further constructed a transcription factors-TRPV1 regulatory network and revealed a series of key upstream transcription factors of TRPV1 in certain cancers. Additionally, we studied the relationship between TRPV1 levels and the tumor microenvironment, immune cells, immune checkpoints, and its sensitivity to small-molecule inhibitors. Conclusions Our study curated both the genetic and epigenetic status of TRPV1 and its regulatory networks in cancers and highlighted that TRPV1 could serve as a prognostic biomarker and is correlated with immunotherapy and chemotherapy.