Title:Hub Genes and Immune Cell Infiltration in Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary
Hypertension: Bioinformatics Analysis and In Vivo Validation
Volume: 26
Issue: 11
Author(s): Chengwei Li, Jingwen Xia, Ruzetuoheti Yiminniyaze, Liang Dong and Shengqing Li*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China
Keywords:
Hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension, bioinformatics, differentially expressed genes, hub genes, immune cell infiltration, signaling pathway.
Abstract:
Background: Hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (HPH) represents a severe
pulmonary disorder with high morbidity and mortality, which necessitates identifying the critical
molecular mechanisms underlying HPH pathogenesis.
Methods: The mRNA expression microarray GSE15197 (containing 8 pulmonary tissues from
HPH and 13 normal controls) was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Gene ontology
(GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were executed by RStudio
software. The Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network was visualized and established using Cytoscape,
and the cytoHubba app from Cytoscape was used to pick out the hub modules. The infiltration
of immune cells in HPH was analyzed using the CIBERSORTx. To confirm the potential hub
genes, real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was conducted using lung tissues
of rat HPH models and controls.
Results: A total of 852 upregulated and 547 downregulated genes were identified. The top terms in biological
processes were apoptosis, proliferation, and regulation of the MAPK cascade, including ERK1/2.
Cytoplasm, cytosol, and membrane were enriched in cellular component groups. Molecular functions
mainly focus on protein binding, protein serine/threonine kinase activity and identical protein binding.
KEGG analysis identified pathways in cancer, regulation of actin cytoskeleton and rap1 signaling pathway.
There was significantly different immune cell infiltration between HPH and normal control samples.
High proportions of the memory subsets of B cells and CD4 cells, Macrophages M2 subtype, and
resting Dendritic cells were found in HPH samples, while high proportions of naive CD4 cells and resting
mast cells were found in normal control samples. The qRT-PCR results showed that among the ten
identified hub modules, FBXL3, FBXL13 and XCL1 mRNA levels were upregulated, while NEDD4L,
NPFFR2 and EDN3 were downregulated in HPH rats compared with control rats.
Conclusion: Our study revealed the key genes and the involvement of immune cell infiltration in
HPH, thus providing new insight into the pathogenesis of HPH and potential treatment targets for
patients with HPH.