Identification of the KCNQ1OT1/ miR-378a-3p/ RBMS1 Axis as a Novel Prognostic Biomarker Associated With Immune Cell Infiltration in Gastric Cancer

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality and the fifth most common cancer worldwide. However, the underlying mechanisms of competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) in GC are unclear. This study aimed to construct a ceRNA regulation network in correlation with prognosis and explore a prognostic model associated with GC. Methods: In this study, 1,040 cases of GC were obtained from TCGA and GEO datasets. To identify potential prognostic signature associated with GC, Cox regression analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression were employed. The prognostic value of the signature was validated in the GEO84437 training set, GEO84437 test set, GEO15459 set, and TCGA-STAD. Based on the public databases, TargetScan and starBase, an mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA regulatory network was constructed, and hub genes were identified using the CytoHubba plugin. Furthermore, the clinical outcomes, immune cell infiltration, genetic variants, methylation, and somatic copy number alteration (sCNA) associated with the ceRNA network were derived using bioinformatics methods. Results: A total of 234 prognostic genes were identified. GO and GSEA revealed that the biological pathways and modules related to immune response and fibroblasts were considerably enriched in GC. A nomogram was generated to provide accurate prognostic outcomes and individualized risk estimates, which were validated in the training, test dataset, and two independent validation datasets. Thereafter, an mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA regulatory network containing 4 mRNAs, 22 miRNAs, 201 lncRNAs was constructed. The KCNQ1OT1/hsa-miR-378a-3p/RBMS1 ceRNA network associated with the prognosis was obtained by hub gene analysis and correlation analysis. Importantly, we found that the KCNQ1OT1/miR-378a-3p/RBMS1 axis may play a vital role in the diagnosis and prognosis of GC patients based on Cox regression analyses. Furthermore, our findings demonstrated that mutations and sCNA of the KCNQ1OT1/miR-378a-3p/RBMS1 axis were associated with increased immune infiltration, while the abnormal upregulation of the axis was primarily a result of hypomethylation. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the KCNQ1OT1/miR-378a-3p/RBMS1 axis may be a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for GC. Moreover, such findings provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of GC pathogenesis.