Comprehensive analysis of pan-cancer reveals potential of ASF1B as a prognostic and immunological biomarker

Background Anti-silencing function 1 (ASF1) is a conserved histone H3-H4 chaperone protein. ASF1B, a paralog of ASF1, acts by promoting cell proliferation and influencing cell cycle progression. Although there is some evidence demonstrating that ASF1B plays a key role in the development, progression, and prognosis of certain cancers, there are no pan-cancer analyses of ASF1B. Methods We used a range of bioinformatics approaches to investigate the predictive role of ASF1B, including its correlation with prognosis, tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), tumor microenvironment (TME), and immune cell infiltration, in diverse cancer types. Results We found that ASF1B was highly expressed in 22 cancers and was negatively correlated with the prognosis of multiple major cancer types. Furthermore, ASF1B expression was correlated with TMB in 21 cancers and with MSI in 7 cancers. We found that ASF1B was coexpressed with genes encoding immune activators, immune suppressors, major histocompatibility complexes, chemokines, and chemokine receptors. We further found that the role of ASF1B in the infiltration of different types of immune cells varied across tumor types. ASF1B may potentially affect several key immune-related pathways, such as those involved in antigen processing and presentation, natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and autoimmune thyroid disease. Conclusions Our findings show that ASF1B may serve as a prognostic marker and potential immunotherapeutic target for several malignancies due to its role in tumorigenesis and immune infiltration.