Identification and Analysis of Crucial Genes in H. pylori-Associated Gastric Cancer Using an Integrated Bioinformatics Approach

Wei Ding; Huaji Jiang; Nianyuan Ye; Ling Zhuang; Zhiping Yuan; Yulin Tan; Wenbo Xue; Xuezhong Xu

doi:10.1155/2023/8538240

Identification and Analysis of Crucial Genes in H. pylori-Associated Gastric Cancer Using an Integrated Bioinformatics Approach

J Oncol. 2023 Feb 1:2023:8538240. doi: 10.1155/2023/8538240. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wei Ding^{1

2

3}, Huaji Jiang^{1

2}, Nianyuan Ye^{1

2}, Ling Zhuang^{1

2}, Zhiping Yuan⁴, Yulin Tan^{1

2}, Wenbo Xue^{1

2}, Xuezhong Xu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Surgery, Wujin Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Changzhou 213017, China.
² Department of General Surgery, The Wujin Clinical College of Xuzhou Medical University, Changzhou 213017, China.
³ Changzhou Key Laboratory of Molecular Diagnostics and Precision Cancer Medicine, Changzhou 213017, China.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterology, Wujin Hospital Affiliated with Jiangsu University, Changzhou 213017, China.

Abstract

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

Materials and methods: The dataset GSE13195 was chosen to search for abnormally expressed genes in H. pylori-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 (T3, T2, and T4), while the orangered4, salmon2, pink, and navajowhite2 modules were correlated with lymph node metastasis (N3, N2, and N0). Based on the results of DEGs and hub genes, a total of 7 key genes (ADAM28, FCER1G, MRPL14, SOSTDC1, TYROBP, C1QC, and C3) were screened out. These gene mRNA levels were able to distinguish between normal and H. pylori-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 Tcell-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 H. pylori-associated GC tumorigenesis. Patients with higher levels of C3 expression had a poorer prognosis than those with lower levels. In addition, these key genes may serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for H. pylori-associated GC diagnosis, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy in the future.