World Journal of Oncology, ISSN 1920-4531 print, 1920-454X online, Open Access
Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, World J Oncol and Elmer Press Inc
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Original Article

Volume 17, Number 2, April 2026, pages 247-255


Multi-Omics and Single-Cell Mendelian Randomization Reveal a Potential Role of VNN2 in Lung Adenocarcinoma in Resting Natural Killer Cells

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Overview of the multi-omics Mendelian randomization (MR) framework. Stage 1: genome-wide screening integrating whole-blood eQTL (eQTLGen), plasma pQTL (deCODE), LUAD GWAS, and transcriptomic differential expression analyses (TCGA and GTEx via GEPIA2) to prioritize candidate genes. Stage 2: targeted single-cell MR analyses using the OneK1K sc-eQTL resource to evaluate cell type–specific associations with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) risk, with a focus on resting NK cells. eQTL: expression quantitative trait loci; NK: natural killer.
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Multi-omics identification of candidate genes associated with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). (a) eQTL-MR, (b) pQTL-MR, and (c) transcriptomic differential expression volcano plots highlight genes associated with LUAD risk.
Figure 3.
Figure 3. Single-cell Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of VNN2 across immune cell types. Overview of the OneK1K dataset comprising 14 peripheral blood immune cell types profiled for eQTLs. Forest plot showing MR estimates of genetically predicted VNN2 expression and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) risk across immune cell subsets. eQTL: expression quantitative trait loci.