Fig 1: Differentially expressed proteins in the IM/ATP vs NAG group comparison. (A) Heatmap of differentially expressed proteins for the IM/ATP vs NAG comparison group. (B) Enriched GO-MF gene sets identified by GSEA. These pathways can be classified into five categories: transition metal ion binding, regulation of peptidase activity, metabolism of glycosaminoglycan, immune receptor binding, and growth factor binding. (C) DEPs of the IM/ATP vs NAG comparison overlaid with DEPs of the EGC vs NAG comparison. Thirty-four proteins were commonly upregulated or downregulated in the IM/ATP and EGC groups. (D) Serum concentration of component C3 (immunoturbidimetric assay). (E) Concentration of MPO in serum (ELISA assay). (F) Concentration of COMP in serum (ELISA assay). (G) COMP levels in the gastric tissue samples. These tissue samples include NAG (n = 10), IM (n = 16), and GC (n = 16). The barplot is the statistical result of the optical density analysis of IHC images. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.