Overexpression of FERM Domain Containing Kindlin 2 (FERMT2) in Fibroblasts Correlates with EMT and Immunosuppression in Gastric Cancer

Figure 6

FERMT2 is a detrimental factor for immunotherapy in GC patients. (a) Correlation between FERMT2 expression and TIDE score as analyzed based on TCGA-STAD (Spearman method, ). (b) Expression correlation analysis of FERMT2 and programmed cell death 1 (PDCD1) based on TCGA-STAD (Spearman method, ). (c) Immunohistochemistry for FERMT2 and PDCD1 was performed on GC serial sections (). (d) Statistical comparison of FERMT2 and PDCD1 expression levels (-score) was analyzed using the Spearman correlation analysis (). (e) Representative costained images of FERMT2, CK, and CD8 in the immune excluded immunophenotypes. Scale bars, 100 μm and 20 μm enlarged images. Nuclei (DAPI) in blue. (f) Representative images of different immunohistochemical staining intensities for FERMT2 based on our own GC samples (). (g) Box plot showing distinct FERMT2 expression (-score) between responder and nonresponder after anti-PD-1 therapy in 40 GC patients (Wilcoxon test, ). (h) Bar plot showing distinct response rates between the high- and low-FERMT2 groups in 40 GC patients. Representative pictures of CT (computed tomography) scan of FERMT2 (i) high-expression and (j) low-expression GC patients. The expression level of FERMT2 can predict the efficacy of immunotherapy. The arrows indicate the primary or metastatic tumor foci. Red for progressive disease (PD), green for partial response (PR), and blue for stable disease (SD).

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