Objective To explore the expression level of zinc finger CCCH-type containing 13 (ZC3H13) in gastric cancer based on bioinformatics techniques, along with clinicopathological staging, prognostic survival, immune infiltration, correlation analysis, protein-protein interactions, and enrichment analysis.

Methods Using the UALCAN database and the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases, the expression differences of ZC3H13 between normal gastric tissues and gastric cancer tissues, as well as the significance of clinical pathological data were compared. The correlation between ZC3H13 expression levels in gastric cancer tissues and patient survival prognosis was assessed using univariate survival analysis through the Kaplan-Meier Plotter website and the GEPIA database. The relationship between ZC3H13 expression and immune infiltration levels in gastric cancer was explored using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database. Co-expression genes significantly correlated with ZC3H13 expression in gastric cancer were identified through the Linkedomics database. The protein-protein interaction network of ZC3H13 and its common target genes in gastric cancer was constructed using the STRING website, followed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses.

Results Compared to normal gastric tissues, ZC3H13 was significantly upregulated in gastric cancer, and its high expression was closely associated with patient age, ethnicity, tissue subtype, and other factors. Patients with high ZC3H13 expression showed no statistically significant difference in overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS) time compared to patients with low expression (P>0.05). Immune analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between ZC3H13 expression and the infiltration density of CD8⁺ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic immune cells in gastric cancer (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that ZC3H13 expression in gastric cancer was significantly positively correlated with the gene expression of DAK, DDK1, and BCL7C, and negatively correlated with the expression of FAM10A4, SLC6A7, and TAC1 (P < 0.05). The protein interaction network indicated that proteins interacting with ZC3H13 in gastric cancer included VIRMA, WTAP, METTL3, METTL14, RBM15, and others. Enrichment analysis revealed that differentially expressed genes in gastric cancer were mainly enriched in RNA polymerase, nucleotide excision repair, thyroid hormone signaling pathway, and other pathways.

Conclusion ZC3H13 is overexpressed in gastric cancer, and its elevated expression is linked to the clinicopathological stage, patient survival time, and immune cell infiltration levels. Additionally, ZC3H13 may participate in the initiation and progression of gastric cancer through interactions with key molecules such as VIRMA and METTL3. These findings suggest that ZC3H13 could serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for gastric cancer prognosis.