Abstract
BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is closely associated with the tumorigenesis of gastric cancer. The aim of the present study was to identify the key regulator in H. pylori-related gastric cancer and to study the expression level and clinical value of the indicated key regulator in gastric cancer. METHODS: The GSE6143 dataset was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with limma R package, and enrichment analysis was done using the Metascape web-based portal. The protein-protein interaction analysis was done using Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins. Gastric adenocarcinoma AGS and BGC-823 cells were treated with H. pylori strain 26695 to construct the in vitro H. pylori infection model, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the mRNA levels of indicated genes. The correlation analysis between two genes in gastric cancer was done by GEPIA. Furthermore, the PTPRC expression by pathological features analysis was conducted in UALCAN, an easy to use, interactive web-portal (http://ualcan.path.uab.edu). The survival analysis for gastric cancer, based on PTPRC expression levels, was done using the Kaplan-Meier plotter. RESULTS: DEGs in gastric mucosa with or without H. pylori infection were identified and enriched in immune-related pathways and cancer pathways. The protein-protein interaction analysis confirmed the enrichment analysis of gene ontology. H. pylori strain 26695 exposure also confirmed the alteration of gene expression levels in AGS and BGC-823 cells. PTPRC was co-expressed with CSF2RB and TNFRSF7, indicating a significant positive correlation in gastric cancer. PTPRC was overexpressed in gastric cancer, and the overexpression of PTPRC was positively correlated with the progression of gastric cancer. Furthermore, the high expression of PTPRC could act as a poor prognostic factor for gastric cancer patients, especially for those at advanced stage. CONCLUSIONS: H. pylori-induced PTPRC is overexpressed in gastric cancer, and the overexpression of PTPRC is positively associated with the development of gastric cancer. The high expression of PTPRC could serve as poor prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer patients, especially for those at advanced stage. H. pylori-induced PTPRC is a prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer.