Background:Members of the integrin β superfamily(ITGBs) have been shown to be aberrantly expressed in various human cancers and involved in tumorigenesis and progression. However, the diverse expression patterns and prognostic values of the entire ITGB family members in gastric cancer(GC) has not been systematically investigated.Methods:In the current study, Oncomine, GEPIA, Kaplan Meier plotter, TIMER, GeneMANIA, STRING and Metascape database were employed to explore the transcriptional and survival data of ITGB superfamily members in GC. Moreover, we confirmed the mRNA expression levels of ITGB superfamily members in GC cell lines by qRT-PCR.Results:The mRNA expression level of ITGB1/2/4/5/8 was upregulated in GC, while the expression level of ITGB7 was downregulated. Higher expression of ITGB2/7 was significantly associated with the tumor stage of patients with GC. However, we found that the expression level of ITGB1/2/4/5/6/7/8 was remarkably increased in GC cell lines compared to stomach normal cell lines, while ITGB3 expression was decreased in the former than in the latter. Meanwhile,higher expression levels of ITGB2/6/7 were closely correlated with better overall clinical survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in GC patients, while higher ITGB3/4/5 expression were strongly associated with poorer OS and RFS.We also discovered that the functions of ITGBs and their adjacent genes are mainly related to protein complexes involved in cell adhesion. the functions of ITGBs and their adjacent proteins are mainly related to focal adhesion, cell adhesion molecules, proteoglycans in cancer, small cell lung cancer, rap1 signaling pathway, IgA production by intestinal immune network, and microRNAs in cancer.In addition, the expression of ITGBs was significantly correlated with the infiltration of multiple immune cells, including B cells, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and dendritic cells.Conclusions:Our results suggested that abnormal expression of ITGBs plays a key role in the progression of GC and that ITGBs may be potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for GC.

BackgroundNecroptosis is a recently discovered form of cell death that plays an important role in the occurrence and development of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD). Our study aimed to construct a risk score model to predict the prognosis of patients with COAD based on necroptosis-related genes.MethodsThe gene expression data of COAD and normal colon samples were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analysis was used to calculate the risk score based on prognostic necroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Based on the risk score, patients were classified into high- and low-risk groups. Then, nomogram models were built based on the risk score and clinicopathological features. Otherwise, the model was verified in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Additionally, the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the level of immune infiltration were evaluated by “ESTIMATE” and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA). Functional enrichment analysis was carried out to explore the potential mechanism of necroptosis in COAD. Finally, the effect of necroptosis on colon cancer cells was explored through CCK8 and transwell assays. The expression of necroptosis-related genes in colon tissues and cells treated with necroptotic inducers (TNFα) and inhibitors (NEC-1) was evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).ResultsThe risk score was an independent prognostic risk factor in COAD. The predictive value of the nomogram based on the risk score and clinicopathological features was superior to TNM staging. The effectiveness of the model was well validated in GSE152430. Immune and stromal scores were significantly elevated in the high-risk group. Moreover, necroptosis may influence the prognosis of COAD via influencing the cancer immune response. In in-vitro experiments, the inhibition of necroptosis can promote proliferation and invasion ability. Finally, the differential expression of necroptosis-related genes in 16 paired colon tissues and colon cancer cells was found.ConclusionA novel necroptosis-related gene signature for forecasting the prognosis of COAD has been constructed, which possesses favorable predictive ability and offers ideas for the necroptosis-associated development of COAD.