Abstract
Background. Gastric carcinoma (GC) is a common gastrointestinal
tumor with high morbidity and mortality. The interaction between
epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and immune microenvironment
has important clinical significance. We aim to identify
EMT-immune-related biomarkers in GC. Methods. We used GEO2R to
calculate the differential expression genes (DEGs) between GC and
normal mucosa. Immport, InnateDB and EMTome databases were used to
define EMT-immune-related DEGs. We conducted batch prognostic
analysis by GEPIA 2.0 and Kaplan-Meier plotter databases. The
expression patterns were verified by multiple datasets and lab
experiments. TCGA data, GEPIA, TIMER 2.0 and Tumor-immune system
interaction database (TISIDB) databases were utilized to analyze
the correlation of the hub genes with EMT markers and immune
infiltration. Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia(CCLE) database was used
for co-expression and GO, KEGG, GSEA were used for enrichment
analysis. Finally, the therapeutic sensitivity was analyzed. CMTM3,
LTBP2 were up-regulated in GC and correlated with poor survival in
different databases. Results. CMTM3 and LTBP2 were positively
correlated with immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoints by
the TIMER algorithm. By using the CIBERSORT algorithm, CMTM3 was
positively correlated with the infiltration of macrophages (M2) and
negatively correlated with dendritic cells activated, plasma cells.
LTBP2 was negatively correlated with macrophages (M1), T cells
CD4 + memory activated. Moreover, CMTM3 and LTBP2 were correlated
with the EMT process. CMTM3 and LTBP2 could participate in the
PI3K − Akt signaling pathway, TGF-β pathway and so forth. The
expression of CMTM3 and LTBP2 may be judgments of the therapeutic
sensitivity. Conclusion. Our work suggested the roles of CMTM3 and
LTBP2 on prognosis, drug resistance, immune microenvironment and
EMT process. They may be promising prognostic biomarkers and
potential therapeutic targets in gastric carcinoma which deserves
further study.