Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapy

IntroductionSmall cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, characterized by rapid progression and poor clinical outcomes, and the function of metabolic reprogramming remains unclear in SCLC.MethodsWe performed multi-omics analysis using public SCLC datasets, ana...

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Main Authors: Junyan Wang, Panpan Sun, Fan Zhang, Yu Xu, Shenghu Guo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2025.1592888/full
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author Junyan Wang
Panpan Sun
Fan Zhang
Yu Xu
Shenghu Guo
author_facet Junyan Wang
Panpan Sun
Fan Zhang
Yu Xu
Shenghu Guo
author_sort Junyan Wang
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionSmall cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, characterized by rapid progression and poor clinical outcomes, and the function of metabolic reprogramming remains unclear in SCLC.MethodsWe performed multi-omics analysis using public SCLC datasets, analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing to identify metabolic reprogramming patterns between chemotherapy-resistant and sensitive samples. Bulk RNA sequencing from GSE60052 and cBioportal cohorts was used to identify metabolism-related gene modules through WGCNA and develop a Gradient Boosting Machine prognostic model. Functional validation of MOCS2, the top-ranked gene in our model, was conducted through siRNA knockdown experiments in SCLC cell lines.ResultsSingle-cell analysis revealed distinct metabolic reprogramming patterns between chemotherapy-resistant and sensitive samples. WGCNA identified a turquoise module strongly correlated with metabolic reprogramming (cor = 0.56, P < 0.005). The GBM-based prognostic model demonstrated excellent performance (C-index = 0.915) with MOCS2, USP39, SMYD2, GFPT1, and PRKRIR identified as the most important variables. Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed significant survival differences between high-risk and low-risk groups in both validation cohorts (P < 0.001). In vitro experiments showed that MOCS2 knockdown significantly reduced SCLC cell proliferation, colony formation, and migration capabilities (all P < 0.01), confirming its crucial role in regulating SCLC cell biology. Immunological characterization revealed distinct immune landscapes between risk groups, and drug sensitivity analysis identified five compounds with significantly different response profiles between risk groups.ConclusionOur study established a robust metabolism-based prognostic model for SCLC that effectively stratifies patients into risk groups with distinct survival outcomes, immune profiles, and drug sensitivity patterns. Functional validation experiments confirmed MOCS2 as an important regulator of SCLC cell proliferation and migration, providing valuable insights for treatment selection and prognosis prediction in SCLC.
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spelling doaj-art-98e4e9dfc7ab4e08ad7e30cc8fcb447c2025-08-20T02:31:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences2296-889X2025-05-011210.3389/fmolb.2025.15928881592888Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapyJunyan Wang0Panpan Sun1Fan Zhang2Yu Xu3Shenghu Guo4Medical Oncology Department, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, ChinaDepartment of Psychiatry, Hebei Province Rong-Jun Hospital, Baoding, Hebei, ChinaMedical Oncology Department, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, ChinaMedical Oncology Department, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, ChinaDepartment of Immuno-Oncology, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, ChinaIntroductionSmall cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, characterized by rapid progression and poor clinical outcomes, and the function of metabolic reprogramming remains unclear in SCLC.MethodsWe performed multi-omics analysis using public SCLC datasets, analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing to identify metabolic reprogramming patterns between chemotherapy-resistant and sensitive samples. Bulk RNA sequencing from GSE60052 and cBioportal cohorts was used to identify metabolism-related gene modules through WGCNA and develop a Gradient Boosting Machine prognostic model. Functional validation of MOCS2, the top-ranked gene in our model, was conducted through siRNA knockdown experiments in SCLC cell lines.ResultsSingle-cell analysis revealed distinct metabolic reprogramming patterns between chemotherapy-resistant and sensitive samples. WGCNA identified a turquoise module strongly correlated with metabolic reprogramming (cor = 0.56, P < 0.005). The GBM-based prognostic model demonstrated excellent performance (C-index = 0.915) with MOCS2, USP39, SMYD2, GFPT1, and PRKRIR identified as the most important variables. Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed significant survival differences between high-risk and low-risk groups in both validation cohorts (P < 0.001). In vitro experiments showed that MOCS2 knockdown significantly reduced SCLC cell proliferation, colony formation, and migration capabilities (all P < 0.01), confirming its crucial role in regulating SCLC cell biology. Immunological characterization revealed distinct immune landscapes between risk groups, and drug sensitivity analysis identified five compounds with significantly different response profiles between risk groups.ConclusionOur study established a robust metabolism-based prognostic model for SCLC that effectively stratifies patients into risk groups with distinct survival outcomes, immune profiles, and drug sensitivity patterns. Functional validation experiments confirmed MOCS2 as an important regulator of SCLC cell proliferation and migration, providing valuable insights for treatment selection and prognosis prediction in SCLC.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2025.1592888/fullmetabolic reprogrammingsmall cell lung cancerprognosisimmune microenvironmentdrug sensitivity
spellingShingle Junyan Wang
Panpan Sun
Fan Zhang
Yu Xu
Shenghu Guo
Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapy
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
metabolic reprogramming
small cell lung cancer
prognosis
immune microenvironment
drug sensitivity
title Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapy
title_full Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapy
title_fullStr Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapy
title_full_unstemmed Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapy
title_short Metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer: MOCS2 validation and implications for personalized therapy
title_sort metabolic reprogramming signature predicts prognosis and immune landscape in small cell lung cancer mocs2 validation and implications for personalized therapy
topic metabolic reprogramming
small cell lung cancer
prognosis
immune microenvironment
drug sensitivity
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2025.1592888/full
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