{"title":"The Role of the TIMP1/LINC01615 Axis as a Regulator of the EMT Pathway in Gastric Cancer.","authors":"Jiying Liu, Yeganeh Olyaee, Khatere Mokhtari, Chaoxiang Lv, Niloufar Salimian, Maliheh Entezari, Afshin Taheriazam, Mehrdad Hashemi, Mazaher Maghsoudloo, Ling Yuan","doi":"10.1186/s12575-025-00297-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Gastric cancer (GCa) is a common malignancy where the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway and lncRNAs are key to proliferation and metastasis. This study aimed to identify lncRNAs regulating the EMT pathway as therapeutic and diagnostic targets in GCa.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We utilized the TCGA-STAD dataset and differential expression gene (DEG) analysis was performed to identify overlapping genes between DEGs and the EMT pathway. The LASSO feature reduction algorithm and ROC curve analysis were applied to prioritize candidate biomarkers. Additionally, immunological and immunotherapy analyses were conducted to evaluate the significance of TIMP1 in GCa. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between TIMP1 and all differentially expressed lncRNAs, and the most strongly correlated candidates were selected. Experimental validation of the results was carried out using RT-qPCR with 25 cancerous and 25 adjacent normal tissue samples in GCa.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>DEG analysis identified 2,926 DEGs, among which 87 were associated with the EMT pathway. The LASSO algorithm reduced this list to 11 genes, and ROC curve analysis identified TIMP1 as a candidate biomarker in GCa. Higher TIMP1 expression was associated with improved response rates. Correlation analysis revealed that LINC01615 was most strongly co-regulated with TIMP1 in GCa. RT-qPCR confirmed that both TIMP1 and LINC01615 were significantly upregulated in tumor tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues, highlighting their potential as diagnostic biomarkers.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>A strong correlation between TIMP1 and LINC01615 suggests their role in promoting GCa proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. TIMP1/LINC01615 axis regulates the EMT pathway and is a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in GCa.</p>","PeriodicalId":8960,"journal":{"name":"Biological Procedures Online","volume":"27 1","pages":"31"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12363065/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biological Procedures Online","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12575-025-00297-y","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH METHODS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Gastric cancer (GCa) is a common malignancy where the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway and lncRNAs are key to proliferation and metastasis. This study aimed to identify lncRNAs regulating the EMT pathway as therapeutic and diagnostic targets in GCa.
Methods: We utilized the TCGA-STAD dataset and differential expression gene (DEG) analysis was performed to identify overlapping genes between DEGs and the EMT pathway. The LASSO feature reduction algorithm and ROC curve analysis were applied to prioritize candidate biomarkers. Additionally, immunological and immunotherapy analyses were conducted to evaluate the significance of TIMP1 in GCa. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between TIMP1 and all differentially expressed lncRNAs, and the most strongly correlated candidates were selected. Experimental validation of the results was carried out using RT-qPCR with 25 cancerous and 25 adjacent normal tissue samples in GCa.
Results: DEG analysis identified 2,926 DEGs, among which 87 were associated with the EMT pathway. The LASSO algorithm reduced this list to 11 genes, and ROC curve analysis identified TIMP1 as a candidate biomarker in GCa. Higher TIMP1 expression was associated with improved response rates. Correlation analysis revealed that LINC01615 was most strongly co-regulated with TIMP1 in GCa. RT-qPCR confirmed that both TIMP1 and LINC01615 were significantly upregulated in tumor tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues, highlighting their potential as diagnostic biomarkers.
Conclusion: A strong correlation between TIMP1 and LINC01615 suggests their role in promoting GCa proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. TIMP1/LINC01615 axis regulates the EMT pathway and is a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in GCa.
期刊介绍:
iological Procedures Online publishes articles that improve access to techniques and methods in the medical and biological sciences.
We are also interested in short but important research discoveries, such as new animal disease models.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Reports of new research techniques and applications of existing techniques
Technical analyses of research techniques and published reports
Validity analyses of research methods and approaches to judging the validity of research reports
Application of common research methods
Reviews of existing techniques
Novel/important product information
Biological Procedures Online places emphasis on multidisciplinary approaches that integrate methodologies from medicine, biology, chemistry, imaging, engineering, bioinformatics, computer science, and systems analysis.