Abstract PO-069: SRMS correlated with immune infiltration and lung cancer: Allusion for COVID-19

Background: The non-receptor tyrosine kinase, SRMS (Src-related kinase lacking C-terminal regulatory tyrosine and N-terminal myristoylation sites) is a member of the BRK family kinases (BFKs) that represents an evolutionarily conserved relative of the Src family kinases (SFKs) and is shown to restrain autophagy in mammalian cells. Gene enrichment analyses using the Ingenuity Pathway analyses (IPA) of SRMS interacting partners predicted viral infection as a significantly increased cellular processes. However, the correlation between SRMS and prognosis in LUAD (lung adenocarcinoma) and LUSC (lung squamous cell carcinoma) or its impact on COVID-19 is understudied. Methods: We analyzed the expression levels of SRMS, and the correlation between SRMS and immune infiltration level in LUAD and LUSC was investigated using TIMER database. Open Target platform was used to analyze the association of SRMS with disease. In addition, we used GSE30589 databases to elucidate the changes of SRMS expression in vitro after SARS-CoV infection in Vero E6 and MA-104 cells. Results: SRMS was elevated in LUAD and LUSC compared to normal tissues. The expression of SRMS was negatively correlated with the level of immune infiltration of CD8+T cells in LUAD and LUSC. We found that the expression of SRMS increased in vitro after SARS-CoV infection in Vero E6 and MA-104 cells. Conclusion: SRMS expression increased significantly in LUAD and LUSC, and this elevated SRMS was negatively correlated with immune infiltration at tumors. SARS-CoV infection increased the SRMS expression. This suggests that patients with LUAD and LUSC may be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 due to increased SRMS levels that inhibit autophagy and alter tumor microenvironment correlated with reduced immune infiltration, which in turn may worsen the prognoses of LUAD and LUSC patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Citation Format: Beesetti Swarna, Yong-Dong Wang, Malia B. Potts. SRMS correlated with immune infiltration and lung cancer: Allusion for COVID-19 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer; 2020 Jul 20-22. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(18_Suppl):Abstract nr PO-069.