Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals OBSCN as a Key Modulator of Tumor Microenvironment, Microbial Signatures and Clinical Outcomes in Gastric Cancer

  • Microbiologyopen. 2025 Dec;14(6):e70186. doi: 10.1002/mbo3.70186.
Hongfang Chen  1 ,  Xiuying Zhang  2 ,  Shijun Li  3 ,  Yi Fang  4 ,  Yi Han  5 ,  Xiaoqian Jing  6
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Pathology, Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang, Weifang, China.
  • 2. Physical Examination Center, Daqing Longnan Hospital, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Qiqihar Medical College, Daqing, China.
  • 3. Department of Pathology, Chifeng Municiple Hospital, Chifeng, China.
  • 4. Department of Emergency, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
  • 5. Department of Emergency, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
  • 6. Department of General Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Abstract

Emerging evidence suggests that OBSCN, a giant cytoskeletal protein gene, plays multifaceted roles in Cancer progression, yet its impact on Gastric Cancer (GC) remains poorly understood. Through integrative analysis of multi-omics datasets, we observe a close relationship between OBSCN expression and outcome of immunotherapy. Besides, elevated expression of OBSCN strongly associated with adverse disease free survival (DFS). Tumor-resident microbes, such as Fusobacterium, can impact the expression of MicroRNAs (miRNAs) targeting OBSCN. In terms of genomic alterations, mutational status of OBSCN is substantially associated with the alpha- and beta-diversity of intratumoral microbiome and patients with mutated OBSCN exhibit elevated higher tumor mutational burden (TMB) and better response to immunotherapy. Furthermore, machine learning models based on the OBSCN mutation-related gene signatures (OMRGS) achieve outstanding performance in prediction of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. In summary, our findings position OBSCN as a novel molecular nexus linking genomic alterations, intratumoral microbiome dysbiosis, and immune infiltration in GC, providing a rationale for future biomarker-driven therapeutic strategies.

Keywords
OBSCN; gastric cancer; immunotherapy; intratumoral microbiome; tumor microenvironment.
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