Tumor immune cell infiltration was significantly correlated with the progression and the effect of immunotherapy in cancers including esophageal carcinoma (ESCA). However, no biomarkers were identified which were associated with immune infiltration in ESCA. In the present study, a total of 128 common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinomas (EAC). The results of gene ontology (GO) enrichment and Reactome pathway analysis displayed that the upregulated DEGs were mainly involved in the regulation of extracellular matrix (ECM), while the downregulated DEGs were mainly involved in the regulation of cornification and keratinocyte differentiation. The most significant module of upregulated DEGs was selected by Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE). Top 10 similar genes of COL1A2 were explored, then validation and the prognostic analysis of these genes displayed that COL1A2, COL1A1, COL3A1, ZNF469 and POSTN had the prognostic value which were upregulated in ESCA. The expressions of COL1A2 and its 4 similar genes were mainly correlated with infiltrating levels of macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) and showed strong correlations with diverse immune marker sets in ESCA. To summarize, COL1A2 and its 4 similar genes were identified as the potential biomarkers associated with immune infiltration in ESCA. These genes might be applied to immunotherapy for ESCA.

中文翻译：

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食管癌肿瘤微环境中与免疫浸润相关的潜在生物标志物的鉴定。

肿瘤免疫细胞浸润与包括食管癌（ESCA）在内的癌症的进展和免疫治疗效果显着相关。然而，没有发现与 ESCA 免疫浸润相关的生物标志物。在本研究中，在食管鳞状细胞癌 (ESCC) 和食管腺癌 (EAC) 之间共鉴定了 128 个常见的差异表达基因 (DEG)。基因本体（GO）富集和Reactome通路分析结果表明，上调的DEGs主要参与细胞外基质（ECM）的调控，而下调的DEGs主要参与角质化和角质形成细胞分化的调控。分子复合物检测 (MCODE) 选择了最重要的上调 DEG 模块。探索了COL1A2的前10个相似基因，然后对这些基因的验证和预后分析表明，COL1A2、COL1A1、COL3A1、ZNF469和POSTN具有在ESCA中上调的预后价值。COL1A2 及其 4 个相似基因的表达主要与巨噬细胞和树突状细胞 (DC) 的浸润水平相关，并与 ESCA 中的多种免疫标志物组显示出强相关性。总之，COL1A2 及其 4 个相似基因被确定为与 ESCA 免疫浸润相关的潜在生物标志物。这些基因可能应用于 ESCA 的免疫治疗。COL1A2 及其 4 个相似基因的表达主要与巨噬细胞和树突状细胞 (DC) 的浸润水平相关，并与 ESCA 中的多种免疫标志物组显示出强相关性。总之，COL1A2 及其 4 个相似基因被确定为与 ESCA 免疫浸润相关的潜在生物标志物。这些基因可能应用于 ESCA 的免疫治疗。COL1A2 及其 4 个相似基因的表达主要与巨噬细胞和树突状细胞 (DC) 的浸润水平相关，并与 ESCA 中的多种免疫标志物组显示出强相关性。总之，COL1A2 及其 4 个相似基因被确定为与 ESCA 免疫浸润相关的潜在生物标志物。这些基因可能应用于 ESCA 的免疫治疗。