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Cancer cells are characterized by metabolic alterations. Thereinto, Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase 1 (SCD1), an enzymatic node located in the conversion of saturated fatty acids into monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), has been reported to accelerate the tumorigenesis of multiple cancers. However, its role in the metabolic process of gastric cancer remains largely unexplored. In this study, by in vitro, in vivo and in silico assessments, our results revealed that SCD1 exhibited the ability to promote tumor growth, migration and anti-ferroptosis of gastric cancer. The underlying mechanism might involve the alteration of cancer stemness and modulation of cell cycle-related proteins. Moreover, based on our findings, high expression of SCD1 might predict poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients. Our study provided new insights into the potential of SCD1 as a biomarker as well as a therapeutic target in the treatment of gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous tumor that underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the expression level of HGF-c-MET in gastric cancer patients and to investigate the prognostic and diagnostic value of HGF-c-MET. In silico analysis of the TCGA and GEO database found that HGF and c-MET mRNA expression are significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues than those in peritumor tissues. Both higher mRNA expression of HGF and c-MET were associated with a poorer prognosis. c-MET expression was modulated by methylation in the promoter regions. HGF was positively correlated with CD8+ T cell, CD4+ T cell, macrophage, neutrophil and dendritic cell. Furthermore, functional enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction networks further shown that HGF-c-MET and related proteins mainly participated in growth factor receptor binding, protein tyrosine kinase activity and signaling receptor binding. Finally, outcome of GSEA analysis showed 13 shared KEGG pathways enriched in high expressed group of HGF and c-MET.

Background The roles played by sodium/glucose cotransporters 1 (SGLT1) that transport glucose in cells independent of extracellular glucose concentration in gastric cancer are unknown. Methods The expression of SGLT1 in 75 primary gastric cancer and paired adjacent normal tissue specimens was determined. Also, the underlying mechanism of the altered SGLT1 expression and its impact on the proliferation of the gastric cancer cells and their metabolism were investigated. Results SGLT1 expression was found to be positively associated with pT, pN, TNM staging, histological differentiation, and a worse overall survival. CRISPR/Cas9 mediated knockout of SGLT1 could inhibit proliferation of gastric cancer cells, promote their apoptosis, and could also alter the metabolism of gastric cancer cells. Mechanistically, the transcription activity of SGLT1 could be negatively regulated by p53. Conclusions Besides identifying the important role of SGLT1 in gastric cancer, the underlying regulation mechanism in play was also elucidated. These make SGLT1 a promising new molecular target for the design of novel therapeutic modalities to control gastric cancer.

This study was to detect the expression level of transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) in gastric cancer and to analyze its value in predicting the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was applied to detect the mRNA expression of TfR2 in gastric cancer tissues and paired adjacent nontumorous tissues. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blotting were used to determine the protein expression of TfR2 in gastric cancer, and the relationship with the prognosis of gastric cancer patients was analyzed. The results were: (1) The mRNA and protein levels of TfR2 in gastric cancer tissues were remarkably lower than those in adjacent nontumorous gastric tissue (P < .05). (2) Clinicopathological analysis showed that the expression level of TfR2 was significantly correlated with TNM stage of patients (P = .047). (3) The results of univariate survival analysis showed that histological grade, T stage, N stage, M stage, Lauren's classification, and TfR2 expression level influenced the overall survival of gastric cancer patients. Multivariate survival analysis showed that low TfR2 expression (HR = 1.671, 95%CI: 1.006-2.774, P = .047), poor differentiation (HR = 2.123, 95%CI: 1.188-3.795, P = .011), and M1 stage (HR = 8.541, 95%CI: 3.416-21.353, P < .001) were independent risk factors affecting the overall survival of gastric cancer patients. In conclusion, TfR2 exhibited low expression in gastric cancer tissue, and is an independent prognostic factor of gastric cancer patients.

Circular RNAs (circRNA) are an abundant class of non-coding RNAs in mammalian cells. However, their value in the diagnosis of cancers remains unknown. In this study, we focused on hsa_circ_0000190, which was found to be down-regulated in gastric cancer tissues in our previous microarray screening.The hsa_circ_0000190 levels in 104 paired gastric cancer tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues, 104 plasma samples from patients with gastric cancer and 104 plasma samples from health controls were detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Then, the association between the expression level of hsa_circ_0000190 and the clinicopathological features of patients with gastric cancer was further analyzed. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to evaluate the diagnostic value.Hsa_circ_0000190 was first found to be down-regulated in gastric cancer tissues (P0.001) and plasma samples from patients with gastric cancer (P0.001). Its expression levels were significantly correlated with tumor diameter (P=0.034), lymphatic metastasis (P=0.026), distal metastasis (P=0.001), TNM stage (P=0.001), and CA19-9 levels (P=0.019). The areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of hsa_circ_0000190 in tissues and plasma were up to 0.75 and 0.60, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the combination were 0.712 and 0.750; the AUC was increased to 0.775.These results indicated that hsa_circ_0000190 may be a novel non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis of gastric cancer. Its AUC, sensitivity and specificity are better than commonly used biomarkers such as CEA and CA19-9.

Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are recently found involved in cancer occurrence and development. However, their values in the diagnosis of gastric cancers are largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed the values of hsa_circ_0000181 in the diagnosis of gastric cancer. Methods Using divergent primers, hsa_circ_0000181 expression levels in fresh gastric cancer tissues and paired adjacent non-tumorous tissues, and plasmas from patient with gastric cancer and health people were detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The association between hsa_circ_0000181 levels and the clinicopathologic features of patients with gastric cancer was further analyzed. Finally, to evaluate the diagnostic value, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established. Results Hsa_circ_0000181 levels in gastric cancer tissues and plasma from gastric cancer patients were significantly decreased than those in paired adjacent non-tumorous tissues (P