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Article Open Access

Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics

  • Authors:
    • Xinzhen Cai
    • Yun He
    • Lili Kang
    • Dongli Zhou
    • Mengmeng Wang
    • Tianyu Ma
  • View Affiliations / Copyright

    Affiliations: Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Gaoyou People's Hospital, Gaoyou, Jiangsu 225600, P.R. China, Department of Oncology, Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Changshu, Jiangsu 215500, P.R. China, Department of Oncology, Gaoyou People's Hospital, Gaoyou, Jiangsu 225600, P.R. China
    Copyright: © Cai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.
  • Article Number: 154
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    Published online on: July 3, 2026
       https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2026.9159
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Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent and life‑threatening malignancies of the digestive tract worldwide. Ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 (RRM2), a rate‑limiting subunit in deoxyribonucleotide synthesis, is overexpressed and is associated with a poor prognosis in various solid tumors. However, its functional role and mechanisms in GC‑specific malignant epithelial cell populations remain unclear. Single‑cell transcriptomic data from GC and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed. Key malignant epithelial cell populations were identified using inferCNV, pseudotime trajectory analysis, and weighted gene co‑expression network analysis. RRM2 was identified as a core gene by integrating data from TCGA‑STAD, GSE66229, and GSE84433 datasets and analyzing its clinical relevance. To evaluate the biological effects of RRM2, functional assays, including colony formation, apoptosis, Transwell migration, and wound healing assays, were performed using AGS and HGC‑27 GC cells with RRM2 knockdown. DNA damage was assessed using the alkaline comet assay and phosphorylated histone H2AX (γH2AX) immunofluorescence, and the expression of DNA damage repair‑related proteins [including γH2AX, phosphorylated tumor protein p53 (p‑p53), RAD51 recombinase (RAD51), poly(ADP‑ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP‑1), and X‑ray repair cross‑complementing protein 1 (XRCC1)] was examined using western blotting. Through analysis of gastric epithelial cell populations, a major malignant epithelial effector population in GC was identified, enriched in cells with active DNA replication and repair. Differentially expressed genes specific to this population were intersected with prognostic genes from GEO GC datasets, resulting in the identification of RRM2 as a key effector gene. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that high RRM2 expression was associated with an active immune microenvironment. Functional assays showed that RRM2 knockdown significantly inhibited GC cell proliferation and migration while promoting apoptosis. In addition, RRM2 knockdown exacerbated DNA damage, upregulated p‑p53, and downregulated RAD51, with no significant effects on PARP‑1 or XRCC1 expression. Collectively, RRM2 was shown to be a crucial regulator of the malignant phenotype of gastric epithelial cells. It promoted GC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration and modulated DNA damage and homologous recombination repair. In addition, RRM2 influenced the tumor immune microenvironment, highlighting its potential as a driver of malignant progression and a promising target for immunotherapy in GC.
View Figures

Figure 1

Flowchart of the analysis of the
present study. GC, gastric cancer; scRNAseq, single-cell RNA
sequencing; QC, quality control; PCA, principal component analysis;
CNV, copy number variation; WGCNA, Weighted Gene Co-expression
Network Analysis; DEGs, differentially expressed genes; RRM2,
ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2; TCGA, The Cancer
Genome Atlas.

Figure 2

Functional validation of RRM2 in GC
cells. (A) Colony formation assay of the two GC cell lines in the
control and siRRM2 groups. (B) Apoptosis analysis of the two GC
cell lines in the control and siRRM2 groups. (C) Quantification of
the colony formation and apoptosis assay results. (D) Transwell
migration assays of the two GC cell lines in the control and siRRM2
groups. Scale bar, 200 µm. (E) Quantification of the Transwell and
wound healing assay results. (F) Wound healing assay of the two GC
cell lines in the control and siRRM2 groups. In these experiments,
each condition consisted of n=4 biological replicates, with each
replicate analyzed in technical triplicate. RRM2, ribonucleotide
reductase regulatory subunit M2; GC, gastric cancer; siRRM2,
RRM2-targeting siRNA. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.

Figure 3

RRM2 induces DNA damage and impairs
DNA repair capacity in GC cells. (A) Compared with the CTRL group,
the siRRM2 group showed pronounced comet tails and an increased
tail DNA content. Scale bar, 100 µm. (B) RRM2 knockdown markedly
increased γH2AX expression in GC cells. Scale bar, 100 µm. (C and
D) Compared with the CTRL group, the siRRM2 group showed
significantly higher expression levels of γH2AX and p-p53 and lower
expression levels of RAD51. No significant changes were observed in
PARP-1 and XRCC1 expression. In these experiments, each condition
consisted of n=3 biological replicates, with each replicate
analyzed in technical triplicate. RRM2, ribonucleotide reductase
regulatory subunit M2; GC, gastric cancer; CTRL, control; siRRM2,
RRM2-targeting siRNA; γH2AX, phosphorylated histone H2AX; p-p53,
phosphorylated tumor protein p53; RAD51, RAD51 recombinase; PARP-1,
poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1; XRCC1, X-ray repair
cross-complementing protein 1. **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.

Figure 4

Identification of RRM2 as a key
molecular target in GC based on transcriptomic data. (A) RRM2 was
identified as a hub gene by intersecting prognosis-related DEGs
from the GSE66229 and GSE84433 datasets with WGCNA-derived module
genes. Its expression in tumor versus adjacent normal tissues
across pan-cancer datasets is shown. (B, G and L) DEGs between the
high- and low-RRM2-expression groups in the GSE66229, GSE84433, and
TCGA-STAD datasets. (C and H) Association of RRM2 expression with
age and TNM stage. (D, I and N) Association between RRM2 expression
and immune cell infiltration. (E, J and O) Kaplan-Meier survival
analyses indicating the prognostic significance of RRM2 in GC. (F
and K) KEGG enrichment analysis showing RRM2-related pathways in
GC. (M) Association between the expression of RRM2 and immune
checkpoint genes. RRM2, ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit
M2; GC, gastric cancer; DEGs, differentially expressed genes;
WGCNA, Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis; TCGA, The
Cancer Genome Atlas; STAD, stomach adenocarcinoma; KEGG, Kyoto
Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. *P<0.05, **p<0.01,
***P<0.001, ****P<0.0001.

Figure 5

Single-cell analysis reveals the
crucial role of epithelial cells in GC progression. (A and B) The
single-cell dataset (GSE163558) was divided into normal and tumor
groups and each cell cluster was annotated. (C) Expression patterns
of marker genes in each cluster. (D) CNVs in each cell cluster were
analyzed using the inferCNV algorithm. (E) D-epithelial cells and
epithelial cell clusters exhibited a high frequency of CNVs. (F and
G) Classification of D-epithelial and epithelial cells into six
subgroups and their distributions in tumor and normal tissues. (H)
Pseudotime trajectory analysis showing the developmental
progression of each subgroup. (I) GSEA results showing gene
functions enriched in the six subgroups. (J) Cell-cell
communication analysis results showing interaction networks among
the six subgroups. (K) Ligand-receptor interactions between cluster
1 and other clusters. (L) Expression patterns of the EGFR signaling
pathway across the six subgroups. GC, gastric cancer; CNV, copy
number variation; GSEA, gene set enrichment analysis; EGFR,
epidermal growth factor receptor.

Figure 6

Identification and characterization
of key effector cell populations within epithelial cell clusters.
(A and B) GO and KEGG enrichment analyses of C1 to annotate its
biological functions. (C) Selection of soft-threshold power for
WGCNA. (D) Cluster dendrogram generated through WGCNA. (E)
Expression patterns of WGCNA-derived gene modules in clusters 0–5
(C0-C5). (F) Association heatmap of WGCNA-derived gene modules. (G)
Identification of C11, C127, C112, and C114 as the subclusters most
closely associated with C1 and exhibiting the highest gene
expression levels. (H) Hub genes in C11, C112, C114, and C127. GO,
Gene Ontology; KEGG, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes;
WGCNA, Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis.
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Copy and paste a formatted citation
Spandidos Publications style
Cai X, He Y, Kang L, Zhou D, Wang M and Ma T: Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics. Oncol Rep 56: 154, 2026.
APA
Cai, X., He, Y., Kang, L., Zhou, D., Wang, M., & Ma, T. (2026). Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics. Oncology Reports, 56, 154. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2026.9159
MLA
Cai, X., He, Y., Kang, L., Zhou, D., Wang, M., Ma, T."Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics". Oncology Reports 56.3 (2026): 154.
Chicago
Cai, X., He, Y., Kang, L., Zhou, D., Wang, M., Ma, T."Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics". Oncology Reports 56, no. 3 (2026): 154. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2026.9159
Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Cai X, He Y, Kang L, Zhou D, Wang M and Ma T: Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics. Oncol Rep 56: 154, 2026.
APA
Cai, X., He, Y., Kang, L., Zhou, D., Wang, M., & Ma, T. (2026). Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics. Oncology Reports, 56, 154. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2026.9159
MLA
Cai, X., He, Y., Kang, L., Zhou, D., Wang, M., Ma, T."Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics". Oncology Reports 56.3 (2026): 154.
Chicago
Cai, X., He, Y., Kang, L., Zhou, D., Wang, M., Ma, T."Identification of RRM2 as a key regulator of malignant epithelial cells in gastric cancer through single‑cell transcriptomics". Oncology Reports 56, no. 3 (2026): 154. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2026.9159
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