DOI: 10.11648/j.crj.20261402.13 ISSN: 2330-8214

ASF1B Serves as a Potential Prognostic Biomarker and Correlates with Immune Infiltration in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Feng Tian, Qiyi Chen, Jun Li, Yonghui Wang, Jianfei Tu, Xingdong Cai, Daxia Cai
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death, and anti-silencing function 1B histone chaperone (ASF1B) has been implicated in several cancers. This study aimed to investigate the role and molecular mechanism of ASF1B in HCC. ASF1B expression was analyzed using the TIMER2, GEO, Oncomine, and GEPIA2 databases, as well as western blotting. Cell viability, cell cycle distribution, and apoptosis were assessed via CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Survival analysis and immune infiltration analysis were performed using the TIMER2 database, and enrichment analysis was conducted via Metascape. Results showed that ASF1B expression was significantly higher in HCC tissues than in normal tissues, and high ASF1B expression predicted poor prognosis and was associated with higher tumor stage. Knockdown of ASF1B by siRNA significantly reduced cell viability, promoted apoptosis, and induced G1 phase cell cycle arrest in SNU-423 cells. Moreover, ASF1B expression was positively correlated with the infiltration levels of immune cells and tumor microenvironment signature cells, particularly functional T cells. Enrichment analysis further indicated that ASF1B may contribute to HCC progression through mechanisms involving cell cycle, cell division and differentiation, and DNA replication and repair. Collectively, these findings suggest that ASF1B overexpression predicts poor prognosis and increased immune infiltration in HCC, highlighting ASF1B as a potential therapeutic target for this malignancy.

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