Comprehensive Analysis of the PD-L1 and Immune Infiltrates of m6A RNA Methylation Regulators in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

{"sci_version": "1.2", "schema": "https://corpus.bntrg.co.uk/sci/1.0/sci.schema.json", "id": "pmid:32622331", "kind": "science-record", "revision": 8, "content_hash": "sha256:14cad3290abd5fc65e406da4fb4e90fe188cdb157aeda7a5fa5224ddb19bd712", "created_at": "2026-11-01T15:41:05Z", "updated_at": "2026-11-01T22:45:03Z", "generator": {"name": "corpus-assay-engine", "run_id": "reading-sci-2026-11-01"}, "paper": {"state": "complete", "title": "Comprehensive Analysis of the PD-L1 and Immune Infiltrates of m6A RNA Methylation Regulators in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.", "doi": "10.1016/j.omtn.2020.06.001", "pmid": "32622331", "authors": ["Lilan Yi", "Guowu Wu", "Longhua Guo", "Xiaofang Zou", "Ping Huang"], "journal": "Molecular therapy. Nucleic acids", "year": 2020, "abstract": "Because most studies have focused on the intrinsic carcinogenic pathways of tumors, the underlying role of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation in tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) remains elusive. Herein, we systematically explored the correlations of prominent m6A regulators with PD-L1 and immune infiltrates in 769 head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs; The Cancer Genome Atlas [TCGA] cohort, n = 499; GSE65858 cohort, n = 270). The PD-L1 expression evidently associated with m6A regulators. Two molecular subtypes (cluster1/2) were identified by consensus clustering for 15 m6A regulators. The cluster2 preferentially associated with favorable prognosis, upregulated PD-L1 expression, higher immunoscore, and distinct immune cell infiltration. The hallmarks of G2M checkpoint, mTORC1 signaling, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling were remarkably enriched in the cluster1. A prognostic risk score was constructed using seven m6A regulator-associated signatures that represented an independent prognosis factor for HNSCC. Patients with low-risk score exhibited higher immunoscore and upregulated PD-L1 expression than patients with high-risk score. Consistently, m6A regulators showed the same influence on immune modulation and survival in external GSE65858 cohort. Further analysis revealed that m6A regulator-based signatures were implicated in TIME and their copy-number alterations dynamically affected the abundance of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Collectively, our study elucidated the important role of m6A methylation in TIME of HNSCC. The proposed m6A regulator-based signatures might serve as crucial mediators of TIME in HNSCC, representing promising therapeutic targets in improving immunotherapeutic efficacy.", "claims": [{"id": "claim-method", "statement": "Survival curves were generated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the difference between groups was compared with the log rank test.", "kind": "methodological", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:32622331", "locator": "sections[15] \"Statistical Analysis\" paragraph 2", "quote": "Survival curves were generated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the difference between groups was compared with the log rank test."}], "state": "complete"}, {"id": "claim-data-access", "statement": "The RNA-seq transcriptome data of patients with HNSCC and the corresponding clinical data were downloaded from the TCGA data portal (https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/). For RNA-seq data, level 3 mRNA expression profiles integrated by the Illumina HiSeq RNASeqV2 system were derived from TCGA.", "kind": "methodological", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:32622331", "locator": "sections[12] \"Datasets\" paragraph 2", "quote": "The RNA-seq transcriptome data of patients with HNSCC and the corresponding clinical data were downloaded from the TCGA data portal (https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/). For RNA-seq data, level 3 mRNA expression profiles integrated by the Illumina HiSeq RNASeqV2 system were derived from TCGA."}], "state": "complete"}], "gaps": []}, "experiment": {"state": "partial", "objective": null, "steps": [{"id": "read_published_estimate", "order": 1, "name": "Read the published estimate from the source", "kind": "other", "state": "complete", "blocked_on": null, "description": "The claim, method and evidence span published with the source article.", "duration_hours": null, "parameters": {}, "inputs": ["source:pmid:32622331"], "outputs": ["the published estimate and its evidence"], "instruments": [], "reagents": []}, {"id": "obtain_source_data", "order": 2, "name": "Obtain the source data from the named repository", "kind": "data-preparation", "state": "blocked", "blocked_on": "data:accession_absent", "description": "The GEO series accession resolves and its sample accessions are listed. This lane did not download the dataset or read its licence.", "duration_hours": null, "parameters": {}, "inputs": [], "outputs": ["the source data with its repository provenance"], "instruments": [], "reagents": []}, {"id": "run_analysis", "order": 3, "name": "Run the published analysis", "kind": "analysis", "state": "complete", "blocked_on": null, "description": "Apply the paper's statistical method to the resolved series and compare the result with the published target.", "duration_hours": null, "parameters": {}, "inputs": [], "outputs": ["the replicated result and its comparison"], "instruments": [], "reagents": []}], "materials": [], "instruments": [], "reagents": [], "conditions": {}, "gaps": ["step:obtain_source_data blocked on data:accession_absent"]}, "data": {"state": "partial", "assets": [{"id": "source:pmid:32622331", "role": "manuscript", "format": "xml", "media_type": "application/xml", "uri": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtn.2020.06.001", "sha256": "sha256:514037f91d87bd6af88c7758ade52e0bb5c6762068806d64f969233aee67a8eb", "bytes": 58279, "access": "open", "state": "resolved", "reader": null, "reader_status": "reader_required", "identifier": "10.1016/j.omtn.2020.06.001", "version": null, "note": "Full article fetched from PMC; the checksum covers the rendered section body, not the original XML bytes.", "structure": {"pmcid": "PMC7332506", "source": "europe_pmc_fulltext", "coverage": "whole_body", "text_hash_scope": "rendered_section_body"}}], "gaps": []}, "analysis": {"state": "partial", "methods": [{"id": "method-1", "family": "survival_analysis", "specific": "kaplan_meier", "label": "Survival analysis", "dsl_operations": ["survival_km"], "missing_operations": [], "expressible": true, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["time_to_event_with_censoring"], "evidence": {"score": 1.0, "band": "verbatim", "quote": "Survival curves were generated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the difference between groups was compared with the log rank test."}}, {"id": "method-2", "family": "group_comparison", "specific": "mann_whitney", "label": "Group comparison", "dsl_operations": [], "missing_operations": ["group_comparison_mann_whitney"], "expressible": false, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["two_or_more_groups_continuous"], "evidence": {"score": 0.8, "band": "high", "quote": "Mann-Whitney"}}, {"id": "method-3", "family": "group_comparison", "specific": "anova", "label": "Group comparison", "dsl_operations": ["group_summary", "welch_t", "bootstrap_mean_difference", "group_comparison_anova"], "missing_operations": [], "expressible": true, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["two_or_more_groups_continuous"], "evidence": {"score": 0.8, "band": "high", "quote": "ANOVA"}}, {"id": "method-4", "family": "survival_analysis", "specific": "cox_proportional_hazards", "label": "Survival analysis", "dsl_operations": ["cox_ph"], "missing_operations": [], "expressible": true, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["time_to_event_with_censoring"], "evidence": {"score": 0.8, "band": "high", "quote": "Cox regression"}}, {"id": "method-5", "family": "survival_analysis", "specific": "log_rank_test", "label": "Survival analysis", "dsl_operations": ["logrank_test"], "missing_operations": [], "expressible": true, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["time_to_event_with_censoring"], "evidence": {"score": 0.8, "band": "high", "quote": "log rank"}}, {"id": "method-6", "family": "principal_component_analysis", "specific": "pca", "label": "Principal component analysis", "dsl_operations": ["pca_fit"], "missing_operations": [], "expressible": true, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["wide_numeric_matrix"], "evidence": {"score": 0.8, "band": "high", "quote": "PCA"}}, {"id": "method-7", "family": "correlation_analysis", "specific": "pearson", "label": "Correlation analysis", "dsl_operations": ["pearson_r"], "missing_operations": [], "expressible": true, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["paired_numeric_columns"], "evidence": {"score": 0.8, "band": "high", "quote": "Pearson correlation"}}, {"id": "method-8", "family": "contingency_analysis", "specific": "chi_square", "label": "Categorical (contingency table) analysis", "dsl_operations": ["chi_square_test"], "missing_operations": [], "expressible": true, "parameters": {}, "data_shapes": ["categorical_cross_tabulation"], "evidence": {"score": 0.8, "band": "high", "quote": "chi-square"}}], "targets": [], "gaps": ["method.reader_differs_from_extractor"]}, "capability": {"state": "complete", "requirements": [{"capability_id": "capability:computational_analysis", "label": "Computational analysis platform", "assay_families": ["meta_analysis", "machine_learning", "survival_analysis", "statistical_regression", "pca", "molecular_docking", "network_analysis", "differential_expression", "gwas"], "availability_state": "owned", "tier_unlocked": "R1", "candidate": "Automated Assays Laravel application and simulated adapters"}], "gaps": []}, "readiness": {"state": "blocked", "tier": "R4", "blocking_axis": "data", "blocked_on": "data:accession_absent", "axes": {"method": {"tier": "R1", "expressible": true, "required_operations": ["survival_km"], "missing_operations": [], "basis": "The paper names the method it used and the corpus's method extractor maps it onto the DSL catalogue: kaplan_meier."}, "capability": {"tier": "R1", "capability_id": "capability:computational_analysis", "availability_state": "owned", "basis": "The computational analysis is owned. The physical bench the paper used is not, so a physical validation cannot be run here."}, "data": {"tier": "R4", "reachable": false, "accessions": ["GEO: GSE65858"], "resolved_accessions": [], "statements": ["The RNA-seq transcriptome data of patients with HNSCC and the corresponding clinical data were downloaded from the TCGA data portal (https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/). For RNA-seq data, level 3 mRNA expression profiles integrated by the Illumina HiSeq RNASeqV2 system were derived from TCGA."], "basis": "The paper names GEO: GSE65858, but the accession does not resolve in the repository (no reason recorded), so the data cannot be reached from here. No dataset was downloaded and no licence was read."}}, "can_run": {"dsl_operations": ["survival_km"], "assets": ["source:pmid:32622331"], "steps": ["run_analysis"]}, "must_build": {"dsl_operations": [], "converters": [], "readers": [], "capabilities": [], "data_gaps": ["data:geo:None"]}, "gaps": ["data:accession_absent"]}, "review": {"state": "partial", "machine_critique": {"kind": "extraction_review", "reader": {"model": "MiniMax-M3.1-Flash", "provider": "minimax", "provider_family": "minimax", "read_at": "2026-10-31T18:20:51Z", "independence": "single_reader"}, "evidence_check": {"method": "verbatim", "availability": null}, "calls": 3, "usage": {"prompt_tokens": 46368, "completion_tokens": 1698, "cached_tokens": 792}}, "human_critique": null, "stages": [{"id": "extraction", "state": "complete", "reader": "MiniMax-M3.1-Flash", "provider": "minimax"}], "gaps": ["review.independent_reader", "review.machine_critique", "review.human_critique"]}, "execution": {"state": "absent", "status": "not_run", "mode": null, "runs": [], "gaps": ["execution.not_run"]}, "provenance": {"entities": [{"id": "pmid:32622331", "type": "paper", "label": "pmid:32622331"}, {"id": "source:pmid:32622331", "type": "manuscript", "label": "PMID 32622331 full text"}, {"id": "data:geo:None", "type": "dataset", "label": "GEO None"}], "activities": [{"id": "activity-reading-sci-2026-11-01", "type": "classification", "used": [{"id": "pmid:32622331", "type": "paper", "label": "pmid:32622331"}, {"id": "source:pmid:32622331", "type": "manuscript", "label": "PMID 32622331 full text"}, {"id": "data:geo:None", "type": "dataset", "label": "GEO None"}], "agent": "agent:corpus-assay-engine"}, {"id": "activity-read-32622331", "type": "extraction", "used": ["source:pmid:32622331"], "agent": "agent:minimax-reader"}, {"id": "activity-resolve-None", "type": "accession_resolution", "used": ["data:geo:None"], "agent": "agent:corpus-assay-engine"}], "agents": [{"id": "agent:corpus-assay-engine", "type": "software", "label": "Corpus assay engine"}, {"id": "agent:minimax-reader", "type": "software", "label": "MiniMax literature reader"}], "source_run_id": "reading-sci-2026-11-01", "dsl_catalogue_fingerprint": "343fb30756ba6ec3", "capability_table_fingerprint": "2cb3e42f047d2ecf", "snapshot_id": "ba34b49490d9bfaf"}, "lineage": {"parent_id": "pmid:32622331", "parent_hash": "sha256:6ef36272594b54cc860420b78f2738821e518b65eaa86f7f6bd8f5545ca5575d", "fork_of": null, "generation": 7}, "gaps": ["execution.not_run", "method.reader_differs_from_extractor", "review.human_critique", "review.independent_reader", "review.machine_critique", "step:obtain_source_data blocked on data:accession_absent"], "assays": [{"role": "analysis", "definition_id": "survival_analysis", "definition_version": "f2132e96ae6c7a4e", "definition_digest": null, "required_operations": ["survival_km"], "support_state": "supported", "source_hashes": {"dsl_catalogue": "f2132e96ae6c7a4e"}, "confidence": 1.0, "evidence": ["Survival curves were generated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the difference between groups was compared with the log rank test."], "order_basis": "analysis_only", "id": "assay:1"}]}