Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Author Spotlight: Unveiling Transmembrane Protein Family-Related Markers in Gastric Cancer and Implications for Targeted Therapies
Published on: September 15, 2023
High expression of TMEM119 predicts a poor prognosis in gastric cancer
Qi Liu1,2,3,4,5, Yizhou Wei2,3,4,5, Chenlu Shen2,3,4,5
1School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Background:
Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Transmembrane protein 119 (TMEM119), a member of the transmembrane protein family, has been increasingly linked to cancer progression, with accumulating evidence indicating that its overexpression correlates with poor prognosis in several kinds of human cancers. Nevertheless, the relationship between TMEM119 expression and prognosis in GC patients remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the association of TMEM119 expression levels and clinical outcomes in GC.
Methods:
Immunofluorescence was performed to assess TMEM119 expression in GC tissues and matched adjacent non-tumorous tissues. Patients' survival data were collected via scheduled follow-up. Gene expression profiles of TMEM119 and corresponding clinical characteristics of GC patients were obtained from the GSE84437 dataset and the Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG) database. The Chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test were used to analyze the correlations between TMEM119 expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify independent prognostic factors affecting survival in GC patients.
Results:
Immunofluorescence staining revealed high expression of TMEM119 in GC tissues. Elevated TMEM119 levels were significantly correlated with poorer prognosis in our institutional cohort of GC patients. This finding was consistently validated in both European and Asian populations, supporting the independence of TMEM119 prognostic value from ethnic variations and underscoring its potential as a cross-population validated prognostic biomarker for GC prognosis. Univariate and multivariate analyses further confirmed that high TMEM119 expression is an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes in GC patients.
Conclusions:
TMEM119 expression is consistently elevated in GC tissues and is inversely associated with patient prognosis, suggesting its potential value as a prognostic biomarker.
