BACKGROUND

The relationship between infection and gastric cancer (GC) has been widely studied, and is considered as the main factor. Utilizing bioinformatics analysis, this study examined gene signatures related to progressing -associated GC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The dataset GSE13195 was chosen to search for abnormally expressed genes in -associated GC and normal tissues. The TCGA-STAD database was chosen to verify the expression of key genes in GC and normal tissues.

RESULTS

In GSE13195, a total of 332 differential expression genes (DEGs) were screened. The results of weighted gene co-expression network analysis showed that the light cyan, plum2, black, and magenta4 modules were associated with stages (3, 2, and 4), while the orangered4, salmon2, pink, and navajowhite2 modules were correlated with lymph node metastasis (3, 2, and 0). Based on the results of DEGs and hub genes, a total of 7 key genes (ADAM28, FCER1G, MRPL14, SOSTDC1, TYROBP, C1QC, and 3) were screened out. These gene mRNA levels were able to distinguish between normal and -associated GC tissue using receiver operating characteristic curves. After transcriptional level verification and survival analysis, ADAM28 and C1QC were excluded. An immune infiltration study revealed that key genes were involved in regulating the infiltration levels of cells associated with innate immune response, antigen presentation process, humoral immune response, or cell-mediated immune response. In addition, drugs targeting FCER1G and TYROBP have been approved and are under investigation.

CONCLUSION

Our study identified five key genes involved in -associated GC tumorigenesis. Patients with higher levels of 3 expression had a poorer prognosis than those with lower levels. In addition, these key genes may serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for -associated GC diagnosis, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy in the future.