Identification and validation of extracellular matrix-related genes in the progression of gastric cancer with intestinal metaplasia

Figure 1 Flowchart and weighted gene co-expression network analysis. A: Flowchart of research; B: The optimal β soft threshold was determined as 12 through scale-free topology and average connectivity analysis; C: Cluster analysis of characteristic gene modules resulted in the identification of eight modules; D-F: Heatmaps showed the correlation between phenotypes and characteristic gene modules confirmed black membership and blue membership as hub modules. GEO: Gene Expression Omnibus; TCGA: The Cancer Genome Atlas; STAD: Stomach adenocarcinoma; IM: Intestinal metaplasia; GC: Gastric cancer; ECM: Extracellular matrix; LASSO: Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator; WGCNA: Weighted gene co-expression network analysis; DEGs: Differentially expressed genes; CDCA: Chenodeoxycholic acid; WB: Western blot; IHC: Immunohistochemistry; SPARC: Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine.