Comprehensive analysis of the novel omicron receptor AXL in cancers.

ABSTRACT

The SARS-CoV-2 is constantly mutating, and the new coronavirus such as Omicron has spread to many countries around the world. Anexelekto (AXL) is a transmembrane protein with biological functions such as promoting cell growth, migration, aggregation, metastasis and adhesion, and plays an important role in cancers and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Unlike angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), AXL was highly expressed in respiratory system cells. In this study, we verified the AXL expression in cancer and normal tissues and found AXL expression was strongly correlated with cancer prognosis, tumor mutation burden (TMB), the microsatellite instability (MSI) in most tumor types. Immune infiltration analysis also demonstrated that there was an inextricable link between AXL expression and immune scores in cancer patients, especially in BLCA, BRCA and CESC. The NK-cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, myeloid dendritic cells, as one of the important components of the tumor microenvironment, were highly expressed AXL. In addition, AXL-related tumor neoantigens were identified and might provide the novel potential targets for tumor vaccines or SARS-Cov-2 vaccines research in cancer patients.