Identification of Potentially Therapeutic Target Genes of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major threat to public health. However, few effective therapeutic strategies exist. We aimed to identify potentially therapeutic target genes of HCC by analyzing three gene expression profiles. Methods: The gene expression profiles were analyzed with GEO2R, an interactive web tool for gene differential expression analysis, to identify common differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Functional enrichment analyses were then conducted followed by a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction with the common DEGs. The PPI network was employed to identify hub genes, and the expression level of the hub genes was validated via data mining the Oncomine database. Survival analysis was carried out to assess the prognosis of hub genes in HCC patients. Results: A total of 51 common up-regulated DEGs and 201 down-regulated DEGs were obtained after gene differential expression analysis of the profiles. Functional enrichment analyses indicated that these common DEGs are linked to a series of cancer events. We finally identified 10 hub genes, six of which (OIP5, ASPM, NUSAP1, UBE2C, CCNA2, and KIF20A) are reported as novel HCC hub genes. Data mining the Oncomine database validated that the hub genes have a significant high level of expression in HCC samples compared normal samples (t-test, p < 0.05). Survival analysis indicated that overexpression of the hub genes is associated with a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in survival time in HCC patients. Conclusions: We identified six novel HCC hub genes that might be therapeutic targets for the development of drugs for some HCC patients.

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Identification and characterization of critical genes associated with tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.10468 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. e10468

Author(s):

Kai Zhang ◽

Kuikui Jiang ◽

Ruoxi Hong ◽

Fei Xu ◽

Wen Xia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Gene Expression ◽

Target Genes ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Tamoxifen Resistance ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Gene Expression Omnibus ◽

Ppi Network ◽

Hub Genes ◽

Mcf 7

Background Tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer is an unsolved problem in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine the potential mechanisms of tamoxifen resistance through bioinformatics analysis. Methods Gene expression profiles of tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7/TR and MCF-7 cells were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus dataset GSE26459, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected with R software. We conducted Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses using Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery. A protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was generated, and we analyzed hub genes in the network with the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes database. Finally, we used siRNAs to silence the target genes and conducted the MTS assay. Results We identified 865 DEGs, 399 of which were upregulated. GO analysis indicated that most genes are related to telomere organization, extracellular exosomes, and binding-related items for protein heterodimerization. PPI network construction revealed that the top 10 hub genes—ACLY, HSPD1, PFAS, GART, TXN, HSPH1, HSPE1, IRAS, TRAP1, and ATIC—might be associated with tamoxifen resistance. Consistently, RT-qPCR analysis indicated that the expression of these 10 genes was increased in MCF-7/TR cells comparing with MCF-7 cells. Four hub genes (TXN, HSPD1, HSPH1 and ATIC) were related to overall survival in patients who accepted tamoxifen. In addition, knockdown of HSPH1 by siRNA may lead to reduced growth of MCF-7/TR cell with a trend close to significance (P = 0.07), indicating that upregulation of HSPH1 may play a role in tamoxifen resistance. Conclusion This study revealed a number of critical hub genes that might serve as therapeutic targets in breast cancer resistant to tamoxifen and provided potential directions for uncovering the mechanisms of tamoxifen resistance.

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Bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed genes and pathways in the development of cervical cancer

BMC Cancer ◽

10.1186/s12885-021-08412-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Baojie Wu ◽

Shuyi Xi

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Cervical Cancer ◽

Differentially Expressed Genes ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Molecular Targets ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Ppi Network ◽

Hub Genes ◽

Kegg Pathways

Abstract Background This study aimed to explore and identify key genes and signaling pathways that contribute to the progression of cervical cancer to improve prognosis. Methods Three gene expression profiles (GSE63514, GSE64217 and GSE138080) were screened and downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened using the GEO2R and Venn diagram tools. Then, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to analyze the three gene expression profiles. Moreover, a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network of the DEGs was constructed, and functional enrichment analysis was performed. On this basis, hub genes from critical PPI subnetworks were explored with Cytoscape software. The expression of these genes in tumors was verified, and survival analysis of potential prognostic genes from critical subnetworks was conducted. Functional annotation, multiple gene comparison and dimensionality reduction in candidate genes indicated the clinical significance of potential targets. Results A total of 476 DEGs were screened: 253 upregulated genes and 223 downregulated genes. DEGs were enriched in 22 biological processes, 16 cellular components and 9 molecular functions in precancerous lesions and cervical cancer. DEGs were mainly enriched in 10 KEGG pathways. Through intersection analysis and data mining, 3 key KEGG pathways and related core genes were revealed by GSEA. Moreover, a PPI network of 476 DEGs was constructed, hub genes from 12 critical subnetworks were explored, and a total of 14 potential molecular targets were obtained. Conclusions These findings promote the understanding of the molecular mechanism of and clinically related molecular targets for cervical cancer.

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Breast Cancer Case Identification Based on Deep Learning and Bioinformatics Analysis

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2021.628136 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Dongfang Jia ◽

Cheng Chen ◽

Chen Chen ◽

Fangfang Chen ◽

Ningrui Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Neural Network ◽

Gene Expression ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Differential Expression Analysis ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Diagnostic Methods ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Support Vector ◽

Hub Genes

Mastering the molecular mechanism of breast cancer (BC) can provide an in-depth understanding of BC pathology. This study explored existing technologies for diagnosing BC, such as mammography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET) and summarized the disadvantages of the existing cancer diagnosis. The purpose of this article is to use gene expression profiles of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to classify BC samples and normal samples. The method proposed in this article triumphs over some of the shortcomings of traditional diagnostic methods and can conduct BC diagnosis more rapidly with high sensitivity and have no radiation. This study first selected the genes most relevant to cancer through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and differential expression analysis (DEA). Then it used the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network to screen 23 hub genes. Finally, it used the support vector machine (SVM), decision tree (DT), Bayesian network (BN), artificial neural network (ANN), convolutional neural network CNN-LeNet and CNN-AlexNet to process the expression levels of 23 hub genes. For gene expression profiles, the ANN model has the best performance in the classification of cancer samples. The ten-time average accuracy is 97.36% (±0.34%), the F1 value is 0.8535 (±0.0260), the sensitivity is 98.32% (±0.32%), the specificity is 89.59% (±3.53%) and the AUC is 0.99. In summary, this method effectively classifies cancer samples and normal samples and provides reasonable new ideas for the early diagnosis of cancer in the future.

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Identification of Potential Biomarkers in Synovial Tissue of Rheumatoid Arthritis via Integrated Microarray Analysis. Identification of Biomarkers of Rheumatoid Arthritis

10.21203/rs.3.rs-700226/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Li Tao ◽

ChaoLiang Xiong ◽

Li Xue

Keyword(s):

Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽

Gene Expression ◽

Pathway Analysis ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Diagnostic Value ◽

Functional Enrichment ◽

Venn Diagram ◽

Ppi Network ◽

Hub Genes ◽

Gene Markers

Abstract Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by synovitis and subsequent destruction of cartilage and bone. This study aimed to explore RA-related gene markers and the underlying molecular mechanism.Material and Methods: The expression profiles of GSE77298, GSE55235 and GSE12021 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Then, the differential gene expression analysis was conducted between GSE77298 and GSE55235 datasets. Limma package and a Venn diagram were utilized to screen the overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and Functional enrichment and pathway analysis were performed by using DAVID database. Subsequently, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established, and candidate hub genes were recognized by using STRING and Cytoscape software. Finally, another dataset (GSE12021) was used for the validation of diagnostic value of the candidate hub genes and to identify real hub genes by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.Results: A total of 385 DEGs were detected, which include 19 downregulated genes and 366 upregulated genes. GO and KEGG pathway analysis showed that DEGs was mainly enriched in various immune and inflammatory response-related functions and pathways. The PPI network was composed of 374 nodes and 767 edges. A total of 8 real hub genes (HLA-DRA, HLA-DRB1, LCK, VAV1, HLA-DPA1, HLA-DPB1, C3AR1 and CD3D) which displayed an excellent diagnostic value for RA were identified.Conclusion: these findings may provide novel and reliable biomarkers for RA, which have some interesting implications for early diagnosis, prognosis and targeted therapy.

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Meta-Analyses of Multiple Gene Expression Profiles to Screen Hub Genes Related to Osteoarthritis

Public Health Genomics ◽

10.1159/000517308 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 24 (5-6) ◽

pp. 267-279

Author(s):

Xianyang Zhu ◽

Wen Guo

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Wnt Signaling Pathway ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Receptor Interaction ◽

Ppi Network ◽

Hub Genes

Background: This study aimed to screen and validate the crucial genes involved in osteoarthritis (OA) and explore its potential molecular mechanisms. Methods: Four expression profile datasets related to OA were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from 4 microarray patterns were identified by the meta-analysis method. The weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) method was used to investigate stable modules most related to OA. In addition, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was built to explore hub genes in OA. Moreover, OA-related genes and pathways were retrieved from Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). Results: A total of 1,136 DEGs were identified from 4 datasets. Based on these DEGs, WGCNA further explored 370 genes included in the 3 OA-related stable modules. A total of 10 hub genes were identified in the PPI network, including AKT1, CDC42, HLA-DQA2, TUBB, TWISTNB, GSK3B, FZD2, KLC1, GUSB, and RHOG. Besides, 5 pathways including “Lysosome,” “Pathways in cancer,” “Wnt signaling pathway,” “ECM-receptor interaction” and “Focal adhesion” in CTD and enrichment analysis and 5 OA-related hub genes (including GSK3B, CDC42, AKT1, FZD2, and GUSB) were identified. Conclusion: In this study, the meta-analysis was used to screen the central genes associated with OA in a variety of gene expression profiles. Three OA-related modules (green, turquoise, and yellow) containing 370 genes were identified through WGCNA. It was discovered through the gene-pathway network that GSK3B, CDC42, AKT1, FZD2, and GUSB may be key genes related to the progress of OA and may become promising therapeutic targets.

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Identification of key genes related to heart failure by analysis of expression profiles

Archives of Medical Science ◽

10.5114/aoms/114896 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Che Wang ◽

Qingmin Li ◽

Honghui Yang ◽

Chuanyu Gao ◽

Qiubo Du ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Heart Failure ◽

Drug Targets ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Interaction Network ◽

Type I ◽

Ppi Network ◽

Hub Genes ◽

And Control

IntroductionTo elucidate the candidate biomarkers involved in the patho�genesis process of heart failure (HF) via analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of the dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO).Material and methodsThe GSE76701 gene expression profiles regarding the HF and control subjects were respectively analysed. Briefly, DEGs were firstly identified and subjected to Cytoscape plug-in ClueGO + CluePedia and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was then built to analyse the in�teraction between DEGs, followed by the construction of an interaction net�work by combining with hub genes with the targeted miRNA genes of DEGs to identify the key molecules of HF. In addition, potential drugs targeting key DEGs were sought using the drug-gene interaction database (DGIdb), and a drug-mRNA-miRNA interaction network was also constructed.ResultsA total of 489 DEGs were verified between HF and control, which mainly enriched in type I interferon and leukocyte migration according to molecular function. Significantly increased levels of GAPDH, GALM1, MMP9, CCL5, and GNAL2 were found in the HF setting and were identified as the hub genes based on the PPI network. Furthermore, according to the drug-mRNA-miRNA network, FCGR2B, CCND1, and NF-κb, as well as corre�sponding miRNA-605-5p, miRNA-147a, and miRNA-671-5p were identified as the drug targets of HF.ConclusionsThe hub genes GAPDH, GALM1, MMP9, CCL5, and GNAL2 were significantly increased in HF. miRNA-605-5p, miRNA-147a, and miRNA-671-5p were predicted as the drug target-interacted gene-miRNA of HF.

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Understanding the Modus Operandi of MicroRNA Regulatory Clusters

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells8091103 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. 1103 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Arthur C. Oliveira ◽

Luiz A. Bovolenta ◽

Lucas Alves ◽

Lucas Figueiredo ◽

Amanda O. Ribeiro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Target Genes ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Target Prediction ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Functional Enrichment Analysis ◽

Functional Enrichment ◽

Modus Operandi ◽

Wide Range

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that regulate a wide range of biological pathways by post-transcriptionally modulating gene expression levels. Given that even a single miRNA may simultaneously control several genes enrolled in multiple biological functions, one would expect that these tiny RNAs have the ability to properly sort among distinctive cellular processes to drive protein production. To test this hypothesis, we scrutinized previously published microarray datasets and clustered protein-coding gene expression profiles according to the intensity of fold-change levels caused by the exogenous transfection of 10 miRNAs (miR-1, miR-7, miR-9, miR-124, miR-128a, miR-132, miR-133a, miR-142, miR-148b, miR-181a) in a human cell line. Through an in silico functional enrichment analysis, we discovered non-randomic regulatory patterns, proper of each cluster identified. We demonstrated that miRNAs are capable of equivalently modulate the expression signatures of target genes in regulatory clusters according to the biological function they are assigned to. Moreover, target prediction analysis applied to ten vertebrate species, suggest that such miRNA regulatory modus operandi is evolutionarily conserved within vertebrates. Overall, we discovered a complex regulatory cluster-module strategy driven by miRNAs, which relies on the controlled intensity of the repression over distinct targets under specific biological contexts. Our discovery helps to clarify the mechanisms underlying the functional activity of miRNAs and makes it easier to take the fastest and most accurate path in the search for the functions of miRNAs in any distinct biological process of interest.

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Screening and identification of key biomarkers and related transcription factors in ovarian cancer by integrated bioinformatics analysis

10.21203/rs.3.rs-20327/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wenqiong Qin ◽

Qiang Yuan ◽

Yi Liu ◽

Ying Zeng ◽

Dandan Ke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Malignant Tumors ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Transcriptional Factor ◽

Ppi Network ◽

Hub Genes

Abstract Background Ovarian tumors are the most malignant tumors of all gynecological tumors, and although multiple efforts have been made to elucidate the pathogenesis, the molecular mechanisms of ovarian cancer remain unclear. Methods In this study, we used bioinformatics to identify genes involved in the carcinogenesis and progression of ovarian cancer. Three microarray datasets (GSE14407, GSE29450, and GSE54388) were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. For a more in-depth understanding of the DEGs, functional and pathway enrichment analyses were performed and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. The associated transcriptional factor (TFs) regulation network of the DEGs was also constructed. Kaplan Meier-plotter, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database and the Oncomine database were implemented to validated hub genes. Results A total of 514 DEGs were detected after the analysis of the three gene expression profiles, including 171 upregulated and 343 downregulated genes. Nine hub genes ( CCNB1, CDK1, BUB1, CDC20, CCNA2, BUB1B, AURKA, RRM2, TTK) were obtained from the PPI network. Survival analysis showed that high expression levels of seven hub genes ( CCNB1, BUB1, BUB1B, CCNA2, AURKA, CDK1, and RRM2) were associated with worse overall survival (OS). All of seven hub genes were discovered highly expressed in ovarian cancer samples compared to normal ovary samples in GEPIA. Immunostaining results from the HPA database suggested that the expressions of CCNB1, CCNA2, AURKA, and CDK1 proteins were increased in ovarian cancer tissues, and Oncomine analysis indicated that the expression patterns of BUB1B, CCNA2, AURKA, CCNB1, CDK1, and BUB1 have associated with patient clinicopathological information. From the gene-transcriptional factor network, key transcriptional factors, such as POLR2A, ZBTB11, KLF9, and ELF1, were identified with close interactions with these hub genes. Conclusion We identified six significant DEGs with poor prognosis in ovarian cancer, which could be of potential biomarkers for ovarian cancer patients.

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Identification of key pathways and hub genes in the myogenic process of pluripotent stem cell: A bioinformatics study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-41291/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wenyong Fei ◽

Mingsheng Liu ◽

Yao Zhang ◽

Shichao Cao ◽

Xuanqi Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Stem Cells ◽

Pluripotent Stem Cells ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Ppi Network ◽

Hub Genes ◽

Myogenic Stem Cells ◽

Key Pathways

Abstract Purpose: The study aims to determine the process of myoginc differentiation in human pluripotent stem cells and to figure out that the key pathways and hub genes in the process, which do helpful for the further research of muscular regeneration.Method: Three gene expression profiles, GSE131125, GSE148994, GSE149055, about the comparisons of pluripotent stem cells and myogenic stem cells from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data base. Common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained and for the further analysis as Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and GSEA analysis and protein‑protein interaction (PPI) network. In vitro cell research to verify the hub genes and key pathways.Result:824 DEGs were co-expressed in the three GSEs. 19 hub genes were identified from the PPI network. The GO and KEGG pathway analysis were performed to determine the functions of DEGs. GSEA analysis indicated the differentiated cells were enriched in muscle cell development and myogenesis.Conclusion: Our research revealed the main hub genes and modules in the myogeinc process of stem cells which contribute to further study about the molecular mechanism of myogenesis regeneration. Paving a way for more accurate treatment for muscle dysfunction.

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