Identification of endoplasmic reticulum stress-associated genes and subtypes for predicting risk signature and depicting immune features in inflammatory bowel disease

Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) becomes a significant factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), like Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Our research was aimed at identifying molecular markers to enhance our understanding of ERS and inflammation in IBD, recognizing risk factors and high-risk groups at the molecular level, and developing a predictive model on the grounds of based on ERS-associated genes. This research adopted the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and logistic regression to build a predictive model, and categorized IBD patients into high- and low-risk groups, and then identified four gene clusters. Our key findings included a significant increase in drug target gene expression in high-risk groups, notable discrepancies in immune levels, and functions between high-risk and low-risk groups. Notably, the <i>TAP1</i> gene emerged as a strong predictor with the highest diagnostic value (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.941). <i>TAP1</i> encodes proteins required for antigenic peptide transfer across the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane, and its potential as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target is reflected by its overexpression in IBD tissues. Our study established a new ERS-associated gene model which could forecast the risk, immunological status, and treatment efficacy of patients with IBD. These findings suggest potential targets for personalized therapy and highlight the significance of ERS in the etiology and therapy of IBD. Future studies should explore the therapeutic potential of targeting <i>TAP1</i> and other ERS-related genes for IBD management.