Exploring the molecular mechanism and core genes of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy based on gene expression microarray

LU Jian-jun; FENG Zhe; HE Yong-li; WANG Rui; HUANG Cheng; ZHOU Ying-ling

摘要：Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCM) is an infectious disease which could lead to severe dilated cardiomyopathy.Intensive efforts have been made to elucidate the pathogeny,but the molecular mechanisms of CCM are still not well understood.The present study was designed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs),and to exploring the molecular mechanism and core genes that may be involved in the disease progression of CCM.Methods A microarray dataset GSE84796 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.The DEGs were identified.Then Gene Ontology (GO),Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analyses were performed by DAVID,STRING and Cytoscape.Results A total of 786 DEGs were identified,consisting of 703 downregulated genes and 83 upregulated genes.The enriched biological process (BP) analysis revealed that DEGs included genes for adaptive immune response,regulation of immune and inflammatory response.Five of the most important six BP in advanced CCM were associated with immune injury and the other one was associated with inflammatory response.From the most important module of PPI network,24 DEGs with degrees≥35 were identified as core genes,among which 22 genes are associated to immune damage,and the other 2 genes are related to inflammatory reaction.Conclusion This study has proved the importance of immune injury in the progression of advanced CCM.Meanwhile,the core genes may provide molecular targets for the diagnosis or drug intervention of CCM in the future study.