KIF23 Predict Immune Infiltration and Overall Survival in Gastric Cancer

BackgroundKinesin family member 23 (KIF23), an index of tumor proliferation, can serve as a prognostic marker in numerous tumors. However, the relationship between KIF23 expression and immune infiltration and the diagnostic value of KIF23 remain unclear in GC (gastric cancer). This study aimed to explored the prognosis value of KIF23 and its interactions with tumor-infiltrating immune cells in GC by bioinformatics analysis. ResultsThe relationship between clinicopathologic features and KIF23 expression was also analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and logistic regression. And the expression level of KIF23 was validated by IHC and GEO databases, which was consistent with informatics results. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the value of KIF23 as a binary classifier using the area under the curve (AUC value). High expression of KIF23 was significantly associated with longer overall survival and progression-free survival in GC. The mutations of KIF23 in GC were analyzed using cBioPortal and the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer database. Enrichment analysis of co-expressed genes and KIF23 analysis was performed using LinkedOmics. By using STRING and GeneMANIA databases, we investigated the protein-coding genes related to KIF23 and its co-expression genes in GC tissues. Then, the relationship between KIF23 expression and immune infiltration in GC was investigated using Timer and GEPIA. We found that KIF23 might be used as a potential prognosis biomarker in GC. Subsequently, KIF23 expression level was correlated with the infiltration levels of CD8 + T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and more obviously with B cells and dendritic cells. In addition, KIF23 expression was significantly associated with T cell exhaustion (CTLA-4 and GZMB). KIF23 expression showed correlations with the infiltration of diverse immune markers in GC. ConclusionOur findings suggest KIF23 can serve as a marker for immune infiltration and prognosis in GC.