Bioinformatics-based Prognosis Effect of Ferroptosis-related Genes on Gastric Cancer

This study investigated the relationship between ferroptosis related genes and the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Gene expression and corresponding clinical data were obtained from the TCGA database. Differentially expressed genes in gastric cancer were identified using R software, and prognostic-related genes were screened using univariate Cox regression analysis. Prognostic genes related to ferroptosis were determined using a Venn diagram. A prognostic model was constructed using LASSO-Cox regression analysis. Additionally, the expression of DUSP1 in gastric cancer was validated through immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and qRT-PCR. The impact of DUSP1 on ferroptosis was analyzed by measuring iron and lipid content in gastric cancer cell lines. A total of 407 gastric cancer patients were included as the training cohort. Fifteen prognostic genes related to ferroptosis were identified, and an 11-gene prognostic model was constructed. Risk scores were calculated for each patient, revealing that the overall survival rate was higher in the low-risk group compared to the high-risk group. ROC curves, PCA plots, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated the model's efficacy in predicting 5-year survival rates (AUC = 0.716). Increased DUSP1 expression, correlated with higher Fe2+ and lipid ROS levels, was observed in gastric cancer cells with increasing Erastin concentration. The prognostic model effectively predicts gastric cancer patient outcomes. DUSP1 is lowly expressed in gastric cancer tissues and is associated with malignancy and metastasis, playing a role in ferroptosis in gastric cancer cells.