Complementary biomarkers of computed tomography for diagnostic grading of gastric cancer: DSCC1 and GINS1.

OBJECTIVE: Computed tomography (CT) is an important tool for grading gastric cancer. Gastric cancer typically originates from epithelial cells of gastric mucosa. However, complementary markers for gastric cancer, relationship between DSCC1, GINS1 and gastric cancer remain unclear.

METHODS: Gastric cancer data were obtained from gene expression omnibus (GEO). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was conducted. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and analyzed. Functional enrichment analysis, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), gene expression heatmaps, immune infiltration analysis were performed. The most relevant diseases related to core genes were identified using Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). TargetScan was used to screen miRNAs. Validation was carried out using Western blotting (WB) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTS: 1243 DEGs were identified. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) analyses revealed significant enrichment in cell cycle regulation, macrophage migration control, basement membrane, extracellular regions, growth factor binding, protein complex binding, P53 signaling pathway, protein digestion and absorption, metabolic pathways. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that high expression of activated Mast cells and Neutrophils, with a strong positive correlation between them, may influence progression of gastric cancer. CTD analysis revealed associations between DSCC1, GINS1 and gastric tumors, gastrointestinal diseases, tumors, gastritis, inflammation, necrosis. WB and RT-PCR results demonstrated high expression of DSCC1 and GINS1 in gastric cancer.

CONCLUSION: The expressions of DSCC1 and GINS1 are up-regulated in gastric cancer, which can be used as supplementary markers for CT diagnostic grading of gastric cancer.