Bioinformatic analysis of SERINC2 with the prognosis and immune infiltration of stomach adenocarcinomas

Abstract Serine Incorporator 2 (SERINC2) is a member of SERINC family, which can incorporate serine into membrane lipids and contributes to the biosynthesis of membrane lipids. SERINC2 has been reported to be associated with tumor progression. However, the expression and function of SERINC2 in stomach adenocarcinomas (STAD) is still unclear. TIMER and GEPIA Database analysis confirmed the high expression of SERINC2 in STAD. Kaplan-Meier Plotter Database analysis showed that STAD patients with high expression level of SERINC2 had low post-progression survival, progression free survival and overall survival. However, gene alterations of SERINC2 have no significant influence on the prognosis of STAD. Moreover, we found that SERINC2 expression was negatively correlated with infiltrating levels of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells in STAD via TIMER. Further analysis from the LinkedOmics database suggested that the co-expressed genes of SERINC2 were enriched in the metabolic process and immune response. Three hub genes, S100A14, RAB25 and FXYD3, were identified through protein-protein network. Among the hub genes, RAB25 was also highly expressed and negatively associated with the survival of STAD patients. These results suggest that SERINC2 is highly expressed in STAD, leading to a poor prognosis and low infiltrating levels of immune cells. The function of SERINC in STAD may be associated with metabolic regulation and RAB25. Therefore, we suggest that it can be an effective biomarker for the diagnosis of STAD.