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Zheng PF, Chen LZ, Liu P, Pan HW, Fan WJ, Liu ZY. Identification of immune-related key genes in the peripheral blood of ischaemic stroke patients using a weighted gene coexpression network analysis and machine learning. J Transl Med 2022; 20:361. [PMID: 35962388 PMCID: PMC9373395 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03562-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The immune system plays a vital role in the pathological process of ischaemic stroke. However, the exact immune-related mechanism remains unclear. The current research aimed to identify immune-related key genes associated with ischaemic stroke. Methods CIBERSORT was utilized to reveal the immune cell infiltration pattern in ischaemic stroke patients. Meanwhile, a weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was utilized to identify meaningful modules significantly correlated with ischaemic stroke. The characteristic genes correlated with ischaemic stroke were identified by the following two machine learning methods: the support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) algorithm and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression. Results The CIBERSORT results suggested that there was a decreased infiltration of naive CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, resting mast cells and eosinophils and an increased infiltration of neutrophils, M0 macrophages and activated memory CD4 T cells in ischaemic stroke patients. Then, three significant modules (pink, brown and cyan) were identified to be significantly associated with ischaemic stroke. The gene enrichment analysis indicated that 519 genes in the above three modules were mainly involved in several inflammatory or immune-related signalling pathways and biological processes. Eight hub genes (ADM, ANXA3, CARD6, CPQ, SLC22A4, UBE2S, VIM and ZFP36) were revealed to be significantly correlated with ischaemic stroke by the LASSO logistic regression and SVM-RFE algorithm. The external validation combined with a RT‒qPCR analysis revealed that the expression levels of ADM, ANXA3, SLC22A4 and VIM were significantly increased in ischaemic stroke patients and that these key genes were positively associated with neutrophils and M0 macrophages and negatively correlated with CD8 T cells. The mean AUC value of ADM, ANXA3, SLC22A4 and VIM was 0.80, 0.87, 0.91 and 0.88 in the training set, 0.85, 0.77, 0.86 and 0.72 in the testing set and 0.87, 0.83, 0.88 and 0.91 in the validation samples, respectively. Conclusions These results suggest that the ADM, ANXA3, SLC22A4 and VIM genes are reliable serum markers for the diagnosis of ischaemic stroke and that immune cell infiltration plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of ischaemic stroke. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03562-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng-Fei Zheng
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China
| | - Lu-Zhu Chen
- Department of Cardiology, The Central Hospital of ShaoYang, No.36 QianYuan Lane, Daxiang District, Shaoyang, 422000, Hunan, China
| | - Peng Liu
- Department of Cardiology, The Central Hospital of ShaoYang, No.36 QianYuan Lane, Daxiang District, Shaoyang, 422000, Hunan, China
| | - Hong Wei Pan
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China
| | - Wen-Juan Fan
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.
| | - Zheng-Yu Liu
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.
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Zheng PF, Zou QC, Chen LZ, Liu P, Liu ZY, Pan HW. Identifying patterns of immune related cells and genes in the peripheral blood of acute myocardial infarction patients using a small cohort. J Transl Med 2022; 20:321. [PMID: 35864510 PMCID: PMC9306178 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03517-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The immune system plays a vital role in the pathophysiology of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the exact immune related mechanism is still unclear. This research study aimed to identify key immune-related genes involved in AMI. Methods CIBERSORT, a deconvolution algorithm, was used to determine the proportions of 22 subsets of immune cells in blood samples. The weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify key modules that are significantly associated with AMI. Then, CIBERSORT combined with WGCNA were used to identify key immune-modules. The protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) combined with cytoHubba plugins were used to identify key immune-related genes that may play an important role in the occurrence and progression of AMI. Results The CIBERSORT results suggested that there was a decrease in the infiltration of CD8 + T cells, gamma delta (γδ) T cells, and resting mast cells, along with an increase in the infiltration of neutrophils and M0 macrophages in AMI patients. Then, two modules (midnightblue and lightyellow) that were significantly correlated with AMI were identified, and the salmon module was found to be significantly associated with memory B cells. Gene enrichment analysis indicated that the 1,171 genes included in the salmon module are mainly involved in immune-related biological processes. MCODE analysis was used to identify four different MCODE complexes in the salmon module, while four hub genes (EEF1B2, RAC2, SPI1, and ITGAM) were found to be significantly correlated with AMI. The correlation analysis between the key genes and infiltrating immune cells showed that SPI1 and ITGAM were positively associated with neutrophils and M0 macrophages, while they were negatively associated with CD8 + T cells, γδ T cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs), and resting mast cells. The RT-qPCR validation results found that the expression of the ITGAM and SPI1 genes were significantly elevated in the AMI samples compared with the samples from healthy individuals, and the ROC curve analysis showed that ITGAM and SPI1 had a high diagnostic efficiency for the recognition of AMI. Conclusions Immune cell infiltration plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of AMI. ITGAM and SPI1 are key immune-related genes that are potential novel targets for the prevention and treatment of AMI. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03517-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng-Fei Zheng
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China
| | - Qiong-Chao Zou
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China
| | - Lu-Zhu Chen
- Department of Cardiology, The Central Hospital of ShaoYang, No.36 QianYuan lane, Daxiang District, Shaoyang, 422000, Hunan, China
| | - Peng Liu
- Department of Cardiology, The Central Hospital of ShaoYang, No.36 QianYuan lane, Daxiang District, Shaoyang, 422000, Hunan, China
| | - Zheng-Yu Liu
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.
| | - Hong-Wei Pan
- Cardiology Department, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Clinical Research Center for Heart Failure in Hunan Province, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China. .,Institute of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, No.61 West Jiefang Road, Furong District, Changsha, 410000, Hunan, China.
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Liao FJ, Zheng PF, Guan YZ, Pan HW, Li W. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis to identify key modules and hub genes related to hyperlipidaemia. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2021; 18:24. [PMID: 33663541 DOI: 10.1186/s12986-021-00555-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to explore the potential molecular targets of hyperlipidaemia and the related molecular mechanisms. METHODS The microarray dataset of GSE66676 obtained from patients with hyperlipidaemia was downloaded. Weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA) analysis was used to analyse the gene expression profile, and the royal blue module was considered to have the highest correlation. Gene Ontology (GO) functional and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were implemented for the identification of genes in the royal blue module using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) online tool (version 6.8; http://david.abcc.ncifcrf.gov ). A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established by using the online STRING tool. Then, several hub genes were identified by the MCODE and cytoHubba plug-ins in Cytoscape software. RESULTS The significant module (royal blue) identified was associated with TC, TG and non-HDL-C. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that the genes in the royal blue module were associated with carbon metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, fatty acid metabolism and biosynthesis pathways of unsaturated fatty acids. SQLE (degree = 17) was revealed as a key molecule associated with hypercholesterolaemia (HCH), and SCD was revealed as a key molecule associated with hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG). RT-qPCR analysis also confirmed the above results based on our HCH/HTG samples. CONCLUSIONS SQLE and SCD are related to hyperlipidaemia, and SQLE/SCD may be new targets for cholesterol-lowering or triglyceride-lowering therapy, respectively.
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