The role of in the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy in pan-cancer using comprehensive single-cell and bulk sequencing.

has been identified as a participant in integrin-linked kinase signaling pathways, influencing epithelial-mesenchymal transition and thereby affecting tumor initiation, progression, and invasion. While the character of in the tumor microenvironment (TME) as well as its implications for immunotherapy remain unclear. Thus, we conducted a comprehensive analysis to assess the prognostic significance of using Kaplan-Meier analysis. In addition, we employed enrichment analysis to uncover potential underlying molecular mechanisms. Using "Immunedeconv" package, we evaluated the immune characteristics of within TME. Furthermore, we determined the expression levels of in various cell types within TME, based on single-cell sequencing data. To confirm the co-expression of and markers of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), we performed multiplex immunofluorescence staining on tissue paraffin sections across various cancer types. Our analysis disclosed a significant correlation between elevated expression and unfavorable prognosis in specific cancer types. Furthermore, we identified a strong correlation between expression and diverse immune-related factors, including immune checkpoint molecules, immune cell infiltration, microsatellite instability (MSI), and tumor mutational burden (TMB). Additionally, there was a significant correlation between FERMT2 expression and immune-related pathways, particularly those associated with activating, migrating, and promoting the growth of fibroblasts in diverse cancer types. Interestingly, we observed consistent co-expression of in both malignant tumor cells and stromal cells, particularly within CAFs. Notably, our findings also indicated that , in particular, exhibited elevated expression levels within tumor tissues and co-expressed with in CAFs based on the multiplex immunofluorescence staining results.