scholarly journals New insights on key genes involved in drought stress response of barley: gene networks reconstruction, hub, and promoter analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyedeh Mehri Javadi ◽  
Zahra-Sadat Shobbar ◽  
Asa Ebrahimi ◽  
Maryam Shahbazi
Keyword(s):  
Drought Stress ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Promoter Analysis ◽  
Gene Networks ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Ppi Networks ◽  
Drought Tolerant ◽  
Key Genes

Abstract Background Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most important cereals worldwide. Although this crop is drought-tolerant, water deficiency negatively affects its growth and production. To detect key genes involved in drought tolerance in barley, a reconstruction of the related gene network and discovery of the hub genes would help. Here, drought-responsive genes in barley were collected through analysis of the available microarray datasets (− 5 ≥ Fold change ≥ 5, adjusted p value ≤ 0.05). Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were reconstructed. Results The hub genes were identified by Cytoscape software using three Cyto-hubba algorithms (Degree, Closeness, and MNC), leading to the identification of 17 and 16 non-redundant genes at vegetative and reproductive stages, respectively. These genes consist of some transcription factors such as HvVp1, HvERF4, HvFUS3, HvCBF6, DRF1.3, HvNAC6, HvCO5, and HvWRKY42, which belong to AP2, NAC, Zinc-finger, and WRKY families. In addition, the expression pattern of four hub genes was compared between the two studied cultivars, i.e., “Yousef” (drought-tolerant) and “Morocco” (susceptible). The results of real-time PCR revealed that the expression patterns corresponded well with those determined by the microarray. Also, promoter analysis revealed that some TF families, including AP2, NAC, Trihelix, MYB, and one modular (composed of two HD-ZIP TFs), had a binding site in 85% of promoters of the drought-responsive genes and of the hub genes in barley. Conclusions The identified hub genes, especially those from AP2 and NAC families, might be among key TFs that regulate drought-stress response in barley and are suggested as promising candidate genes for further functional analysis.

scholarly journals Identification and Classification of Hubs in microRNA Target Gene Networks in Human Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells following Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection

mSphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sriparna Mukherjee ◽  
Irshad Akbar ◽  
Reshma Bhagat ◽  
Bibhabasu Hazra ◽  
Arindam Bhattacharyya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Gene Networks ◽  
Mirna Target ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Ppi Networks ◽  
Neural Stem Progenitor Cells

ABSTRACT RNA viruses are known to modulate host microRNA (miRNA) machinery for their own benefit. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a neurotropic RNA virus, has been reported to manipulate several miRNAs in neurons or microglia. However, no report indicates a complete sketch of the miRNA profile of neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs), hence the focus of our current study. We used an miRNA array of 84 miRNAs in uninfected and JEV-infected human neuronal progenitor cells and primary neural precursor cells isolated from aborted fetuses. Severalfold downregulation of hsa-miR-9-5p, hsa-miR-22-3p, hsa-miR-124-3p, and hsa-miR-132-3p was found postinfection in both of the cell types compared to the uninfected cells. Subsequently, we screened for the target genes of these miRNAs and looked for the biological pathways that were significantly regulated by the genes. The target genes involved in two or more pathways were sorted out. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of the miRNA target genes were formed based on their interaction patterns. A binary adjacency matrix for each gene network was prepared. Different modules or communities were identified in those networks by community detection algorithms. Mathematically, we identified the hub genes by analyzing their degree centrality and participation coefficient in the network. The hub genes were classified as either provincial (P < 0.4) or connector (P > 0.4) hubs. We validated the expression of hub genes in both cell line and primary cells through qRT-PCR after JEV infection and respective miR mimic transfection. Taken together, our findings highlight the importance of specific target gene networks of miRNAs affected by JEV infection in NSPCs. IMPORTANCE JEV damages the neural stem/progenitor cell population of the mammalian brain. However, JEV-induced alteration in the miRNA expression pattern of the cell population remains an open question, hence warranting our present study. In this study, we specifically address the downregulation of four miRNAs, and we prepared a protein-protein interaction network of miRNA target genes. We identified two types of hub genes in the PPI network, namely, connector hubs and provincial hubs. These two types of miRNA target hub genes critically influence the participation strength in the networks and thereby significantly impact up- and downregulation in several key biological pathways. Computational analysis of the PPI networks identifies key protein interactions and hubs in those modules, which opens up the possibility of precise identification and classification of host factors for viral infection in NSPCs.

scholarly journals Bioinformatics Analysis to Identify Key Genes and Pathways Associated with Sex Differences in Rheumatoid Arthritis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siwei Su ◽  
Wenjun Jiang ◽  
Xiaoying Wang ◽  
Sen Du ◽  
Lu Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Gene Expression ◽  
Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Gene Expression Omnibus ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Kegg Pathways ◽  
Ppi Networks ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Key Genes

Abstract ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the key genes and investigated the different signaling pathways of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) between males and females.Data and MethodsThe gene expression data of GSE55457, GSE55584, and GSE12021 were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using R software. Then, the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways enrichment analysis of DEGs were conducted via Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). The protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of DEGs were constructed by Cytoscape 3.6.0. ResultsA total of 416 upregulated DEGs and 336 downregulated DEGs were identified in males, and 744 upregulated DEGs and 309 downregulated DEGs were identified in females.IL6, MYC, EGFR, FOS and JUN were considered as hub genes in RA pathogenesis in males, while IL6, ALB, PTPRC, CXCL8 and CCR5 were considered as hub genes in RA pathogenesis in females. ConclusionIdentified DEG may be involved in the different mechanisms of RA disease progression between males and females, and they are treated as prognostic markers or therapeutic targets for males and females. The pathogenesis mechanism of RA is sex-dependent.

scholarly journals Multi-Omics-Based Identification and Functional Characterization of Gh_A06G1257 Proves Its Potential Role in Drought Stress Tolerance in Gossypium hirsutum

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teame Gereziher Mehari ◽  
Yanchao Xu ◽  
Muhammad Jawad Umer ◽  
Margaret Linyerera Shiraku ◽  
Yuqing Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drought Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Gene Networks ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Drought Stress Tolerance ◽  
Gene Modules

Cotton is one of the most important fiber crops globally. Despite this, various abiotic stresses, including drought, cause yield losses. We used transcriptome profiles to investigate the co-expression patterns of gene networks associated with drought stress tolerance. We identified three gene modules containing 3,567 genes highly associated with drought stress tolerance. Within these modules, we identified 13 hub genes based on intramodular significance, for further validation. The yellow module has five hub genes (Gh_A07G0563, Gh_D05G0221, Gh_A05G3716, Gh_D12G1438, and Gh_D05G0697), the brown module contains three hub genes belonging to the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) gene family (Gh_A06G1257, Gh_A06G1256, and Gh_D06G1578), and the pink module has five hub genes (Gh_A02G1616, Gh_D12G2599, Gh_D07G2232, Gh_A02G0527, and Gh_D07G0629). Based on RT-qPCR results, the Gh_A06G1257 gene has the highest expression under drought stress in different plant tissues and it might be the true candidate gene linked to drought stress tolerance in cotton. Silencing of Gh_A06G1257 in cotton leaves conferred significant sensitivity in response to drought stress treatments. Overexpression of Gh_A06G1257 in Arabidopsis also confirms its role in drought stress tolerance. L-valine, Glutaric acid, L-proline, L-Glutamic acid, and L-Tryptophan were found to be the most significant metabolites playing roles in drought stress tolerance. These findings add significantly to existing knowledge of drought stress tolerance mechanisms in cotton.

scholarly journals Screen Key Genes Associated with Distraction-Induced Osteogenesis of Stem Cells Using Bioinformatics Methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6505
Author(s):  
Jishizhan Chen ◽  
Jia Hua ◽  
Wenhui Song
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Negative Control ◽  
Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Venn Diagram ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Key Genes

Applying mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), together with the distraction osteogenesis (DO) process, displayed enhanced bone quality and shorter treatment periods. The DO guides the differentiation of MSCs by providing mechanical clues. However, the underlying key genes and pathways are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to screen and identify hub genes involved in distraction-induced osteogenesis of MSCs and potential molecular mechanisms. Material and Methods: The datasets were downloaded from the ArrayExpress database. Three samples of negative control and two samples subjected to 5% cyclic sinusoidal distraction at 0.25 Hz for 6 h were selected for screening differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and then analysed via bioinformatics methods. The Gene Ontology (GO) terms and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment were investigated. The protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was visualised through the Cytoscape software. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to verify the enrichment of a self-defined osteogenic gene sets collection and identify osteogenic hub genes. Results: Three hub genes (IL6, MMP2, and EP300) that were highly associated with distraction-induced osteogenesis of MSCs were identified via the Venn diagram. These hub genes could provide a new understanding of distraction-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs and serve as potential gene targets for optimising DO via targeted therapies.

scholarly journals Differential Expression of mRNAs in Peripheral Blood Related to Prodrome and Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Weishuang Xue ◽  
Jinwei Li ◽  
Kailei Fu ◽  
Weiyu Teng
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Bioinformatics Analysis ◽  
Gene Expression Omnibus ◽  
Venn Diagram ◽  
Ppi Network ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Ppi Networks

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the quality of life of elderly individuals, while the pathogenesis of AD is still unclear. Based on the bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in peripheral blood samples, we investigated genes related to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), AD, and late-stage AD that might be used for predicting the conversions. Methods. We obtained the DEGs in MCI, AD, and advanced AD patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. A Venn diagram was used to identify the intersecting genes. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Gene and Genomic Encyclopedia (KEGG) were used to analyze the functions and pathways of the intersecting genes. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed to visualize the network of the proteins coded by the related genes. Hub genes were selected based on the PPI network. Results. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that there were 61 DEGs in both the MCI and AD groups and 27 the same DEGs among the three groups. Using GO and KEGG analyses, we found that these genes were related to the function of mitochondria and ribosome. Hub genes were determined by bioinformatics software based on the PPI network. Conclusions. Mitochondrial and ribosomal dysfunction in peripheral blood may be early signs in AD patients and related to the disease progression. The identified hub genes may provide the possibility for predicting AD progression or be the possible targets for treatments.

Title: Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis Identifies Five Hub Genes Associated with Metastasis in Synovial Sarcoma

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongzeng Wu ◽  
Benzheng Zhang ◽  
Jiazheng Zhao ◽  
Yi Zhao ◽  
Xiaowei Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synovial Sarcoma ◽  
Tumor Metastasis ◽  
Gene Expression Omnibus ◽  
Survival Ratio ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Metastatic Lesions ◽  
Ppi Networks ◽  
Malignant Soft Tissue ◽  
Geo Database

Background: Synovial sarcoma (SS) refers to a malignant soft tissue sarcoma (STS) which often occurs in children and adults and has a poor prognosis in elderly patients. Patients with local lesions can be treated with extensive surgical resection combined with adjuvant or radiotherapy, whereas about half of the cases have recurrent diseases and metastatic lesions, and five-year survival ratio is assessed within the range of 27% - 55% only. Method: We downloaded a set of expression profile data (GSE40021) related to SS metastasis based on the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and selected distinctly represented genes (DEGs) related to tumor metastasis. WGCNA was used to emphasize the DEGs related to tumor metastasis and obtain co-expression modules. Then, the module most related to SS metastasis was screened out. The genes enriched in this module were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) functional and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway improvement analysis. Cytoscape software was used for constructing protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, and hub genes were screened in Oncomine analysis. Result: We selected 514 DEGs, consisting of 210 up-regulated genes and 304 down-regulated genes. Through WGCAN, we got seven co-expression modules and the module most related to SS metastasis was the turquoise module, which contained 66 genes. Finally, we screened out five hub genes (HJURP, NCAPG, TPX2, CENPA, NDC80) through CytoHubba and Oncomine analysis. Conclusion: In this study, we screened five hub genes that may help in clinical diagnosis and serve as the latent purpose of SS treatment.

scholarly journals Text mining-based word representations for biomedical data analysis and machine learning tasks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halima Alachram ◽  
Hryhorii Chereda ◽  
Tim Beißbarth ◽  
Edgar Wingender ◽  
Philip Stegmaier
Keyword(s):  
Text Mining ◽  
Gene Networks ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Biomedical Data ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Biological Databases ◽  
Biomedical Analysis ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Ppi Networks ◽  
Corpus Size

AbstractBiomedical and life science literature is an essential way to publish experimental results. With the rapid growth of the number of new publications, the amount of scientific knowledge represented in free text is increasing remarkably. There has been much interest in developing techniques that can extract this knowledge and make it accessible to aid scientists in discovering new relationships between biological entities and answering biological questions. Making use of the word2vec approach, we generated word vector representations based on a corpus consisting of over 16 million PubMed abstracts. We developed a text mining pipeline to produce word2vec embeddings with different properties and performed validation experiments to assess their utility for biomedical analysis. An important pre-processing step consisted in the substitution of synonymous terms by their preferred terms in biomedical databases. Furthermore, we extracted gene-gene networks from two embedding versions and used them as prior knowledge to train Graph-Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) on breast cancer gene expression data to predict the occurrence of metastatic events. Performances of resulting models were compared to Graph-CNNs trained with protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks or with networks derived using other word embedding algorithms. We also assessed the effect of corpus size on the variability of word representations. Finally, we created a web service with a graphical and a RESTful interface to extract and explore relations between biomedical terms using annotated embeddings. Comparisons to biological databases showed that relations between entities such as known PPIs, signaling pathways and cellular functions, or narrower disease ontology groups correlated with higher cosine similarity. Graph-CNNs trained with word2vec-embedding-derived networks performed best for the metastatic event prediction task compared to other networks. Word representations as produced by text mining algorithms like word2vec, therefore capture biologically meaningful relations between entities.

scholarly journals Weighted gene co-expression network analysis to define pivotal modules and genes in diabetic heart failure

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiwei Liang ◽  
FangFang Sun
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Kegg Pathway ◽  
Diabetic Heart ◽  
Ppi Network ◽  
Hub Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Light Yellow ◽  
Go Enrichment ◽  
Key Genes ◽  
Functional Analyses

Abstract This research was carried out to reveal specific hub genes involved in diabetic heart failure, as well as remarkable pathways that hub genes locate. The GSE26887 dataset from the GEO website was downloaded. The gene co-expression network was generated and central modules were analyzed to identify key genes using the WGCNA method. Functional analyses were conducted on genes of the clinical interest modules via Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and Gene ontology (GO) enrichment, associated with protein–protein interaction (PPI) network construction in a sequence. Centrality parameters of the PPI network were determined using the CentiScape plugin in Cytoscape. Key genes, defined as genes in the ≥95% percentile of the degree distribution of significantly perturbed networks, were identified. Twenty gene co-expression modules were detected by WGCNA analysis. The module marked in light yellow exhibited the most significant association with diabetes (P=0.08). Genes involved in this module were primarily located in immune response, plasma membrane and receptor binding, as shown by the GO analysis. These genes were primarily assembled in endocytosis and phagosomes for KEGG pathway enrichment. Three key genes, STK39, HLA-DPB1 and RAB5C, which may be key genes for diabetic heart failure, were identified. To our knowledge, our study is the first to have constructed the co-expression network involved in diabetic heart failure using the WGCNA method. The results of the present study have provided better understanding the molecular mechanism of diabetic heart failure.

scholarly journals Integration of anatomy ontology data with protein–protein interaction networks improves the candidate gene prediction accuracy for anatomical entities

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasan C. Fernando ◽  
Paula M. Mabee ◽  
Erliang Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Candidate Gene ◽  
Candidate Genes ◽  
Gene Networks ◽  
Prediction Accuracy ◽  
Gene Prediction ◽  
Anatomical Entity ◽  
Anatomy Ontology ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Ppi Networks ◽  
Entity Relationships

Abstract Background Identification of genes responsible for anatomical entities is a major requirement in many fields including developmental biology, medicine, and agriculture. Current wet lab techniques used for this purpose, such as gene knockout, are high in resource and time consumption. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks are frequently used to predict disease genes for humans and gene candidates for molecular functions, but they are rarely used to predict genes for anatomical entities. Moreover, PPI networks suffer from network quality issues, which can be a limitation for their usage in predicting candidate genes. Therefore, we developed an integrative framework to improve the candidate gene prediction accuracy for anatomical entities by combining existing experimental knowledge about gene-anatomical entity relationships with PPI networks using anatomy ontology annotations. We hypothesized that this integration improves the quality of the PPI networks by reducing the number of false positive and false negative interactions and is better optimized to predict candidate genes for anatomical entities. We used existing Uberon anatomical entity annotations for zebrafish and mouse genes to construct gene networks by calculating semantic similarity between the genes. These anatomy-based gene networks were semantic networks, as they were constructed based on the anatomy ontology annotations that were obtained from the experimental data in the literature. We integrated these anatomy-based gene networks with mouse and zebrafish PPI networks retrieved from the STRING database and compared the performance of their network-based candidate gene predictions. Results According to evaluations of candidate gene prediction performance tested under four different semantic similarity calculation methods (Lin, Resnik, Schlicker, and Wang), the integrated networks, which were semantically improved PPI networks, showed better performances by having higher area under the curve values for receiver operating characteristic and precision-recall curves than PPI networks for both zebrafish and mouse. Conclusion Integration of existing experimental knowledge about gene-anatomical entity relationships with PPI networks via anatomy ontology improved the candidate gene prediction accuracy and optimized them for predicting candidate genes for anatomical entities.

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