Hypoxia-associated circPRDM4 promotes immune escape via HIF-1α regulation of PD-L1 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

These findings illustrated that circPRDM4 promoted immune escape of HCC cells by facilitating the recruitment of HIF-1α onto the promoter of CD274 under hypoxia, thereby inhibiting CD8⁺ T cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. This work may provide a novel prognostic biomarker and therapeutic candidate for HCC immunotherapy.