Potential prognostic biomarker MIER2 in colon adenocarcinoma: from data mining to validation

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is highly malignant tumor in the gastrointestinal tract, and reliable biomarkers for predicting its prognosis are remain lacking. MIER Family Member 2 (MIER2) has been implicated in tumor biology, yet its role in COAD remains unclear. MIER2 expression in COAD was analyzed using TCGA and UALCAN databases. Survival analysis, Cox regression, and nomogram construction were performed to evaluate its prognostic value. Functional enrichment analysis was conducted via LinkedOmics. Immune infiltration was assessed using ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms. Additionally, the effect of MIER2knockdown on the proliferation, and migration of SW480 cell was evaluated. The expression of MIER2 was significantly higher in COAD tissues and associated with a poorer OS, DSS and PFI. Multivariate analysis confirmed MIER2 as an independent prognostic factor. Co-expressed gene analysis revealed enrichment in immune-related pathways, including type I interferon signaling and macrophage activation. In addition, MIER2 expression was associated with altered immune infiltration. MIER2 knockdown suppressed SW480 cell proliferation and migration, and RNA-seq further indicated that this might be related to the intrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway. High expression of MIER2 is associated with poor prognosis and immune cell infiltration, and it serve as a novel prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for COAD.