Identification of co-expressed central genes and transcription factors in atherosclerosis-related intracranial aneurysm

作者：Quan Zhang, Hengfang Liu, Min Zhang, Fang Liu, Tiantian Liu · 发表于：Frontiers in Neurology · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3389/fneur.2023.1055456 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Intracranial Aneurysms: Treatment and Complications、Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms、Cerebrovascular and genetic disorders

Background: Numerous clinical studies have shown that atherosclerosis is one of the risk factors for intracranial aneurysms. Calcifications in the intracranial aneurysm walls are frequently correlated with atherosclerosis. However, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis-related intracranial aneurysms remains unclear. This study aims to investigate this mechanism. Methods: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was used to download the gene expression profiles for atherosclerosis (GSE100927) and intracranial aneurysms (GSE75436). Following the identification of the common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of atherosclerosis and intracranial aneurysm, the network creation of protein interactions, functional annotation, the identification of hub genes, and co-expression analysis were conducted. Thereafter, we predicted the transcription factors (TF) of hub genes and verified their expressions. Results: A total of 270 common (62 downregulated and 208 upregulated) DEGs were identified for subsequent analysis. Functional analyses highlighted the significant role of phagocytosis, cytotoxicity, and T-cell receptor signaling pathways in this disease progression. Eight hub genes were identified and verified, namely, CCR5, FCGR3A, IL10RA, ITGAX, LCP2, PTPRC, TLR2, and TYROBP. Two TFs were also predicted and verified, which were IKZF1 and SPI1. Conclusion: Intracranial aneurysms are correlated with atherosclerosis. We identified several hub genes for atherosclerosis-related intracra...