Background
More and more evidence has established the crucial roles of the innate and adaptive immune systems in driving atherosclerosis-associated chronic inflammation in arterial blood vessels. Thus, the goal of this research was to determine immune-related biomarkers in atherosclerosis.
Conclusion
Our study identified IFIH1, IFIT1, IFIT2, IFIT3, ISG15 and OAS3 as immune-related hub genes of atherosclerosis. These genes may serve as potential therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis patients.
Methods
In this study, we conducted analysis on the mRNA expression profile of atherosclerosis obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between atherosclerosis and control samples and immune-related genes (IRGs) were intersected to obtain differentially expressed immune-related genes (DEIRGs). The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was created by STRING database and hub genes were identified by the MCODE plug-in. Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was executed to verify the diagnostic value of the hub genes, and microRNA (miRNA)-gene-transcription factor (TF) regulatory networks were used to explain the regulatory mechanism of hub genes in atherosclerosis. Finally, qRT-PCR was performed to identify the mRNA levels of the target genes.
Results
A total of 199 overlapping genes were screened out as DEIRGs by intersecting the DEGs and IRGs. Then, 6 hub genes with high diagnostic value (IFIH1, IFIT1, IFIT2, IFIT3, ISG15 and OAS3) were identified via PPI network and ROC curve. Finally, miRNA-gene-TF networks revealed the regulatory mechanism of diagnostic genes.We used the carotid artery of AS patients and normal human carotid artery plaque samples for qRT-PCR verification, and the results showed that the hub gene had the same trend.