Bioinformatic analysis of key pathways and genes involved in pediatric atopic dermatitis.

Tianyi Wang,Xiaoli Qi,Bingxin Zhang,Chijin Zhang,Danhui Li

doi:10.1042/bsr20193517

Abstract

The initiation of atopic dermatitis (AD) typically happens very early in life, but most of our understanding of AD is derived from studies on AD patients in adult. The aim of the present study was to identify gene signature speficic to pediatric AD comapred with adult AD. The gene expression profiles of four datasets (GSE32924, GSE36842, GSE58558, and GSE107361) were downloaded from the GEO database. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed, and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by Cytoscape software. Total 654 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (394 up-regulated and 260 down-regulated) were identified in pediatric AD samples with adult AD samples as control. The up-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in the migration and chemotaxis of granulocyte and neutrophil, while down-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in biological adhesion. KEGG pathway analysis showed that up-regulated DEGs participated in chemokine signaling pathway while down-regulated DEGs participated in adherens junction, focal adhesion, and regulation of actin cytoskeleton. The top 10 hub genes GAPDH, EGFR, ACTB, ESR1, CDK1, CXCL8, CD44, KRAS, PTGS2, and SMC3 were involved in chemokine signaling pathway, cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction, interleukin-17 signaling pathway, and regulation of actin cytoskeleton. In conclusion, we identified DEGs and hub genes involved in pediatric AD, which might be used as therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for pediatric AD.

Highlights

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common inflammatory skin disease with an estimated prevalence of around 20% in children and 7–10% in adults [1,2,3,4]
Bioinformatics analysis of microarray data is increasingly valued as a promising tool in gene expression profiling in inflammatory diseases to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that play important role in the diseases [6,7,8]
A total of 654 genes (394 were up-regulated and 260 were down-regulated) special to pediatric AD samples were identified after the analyses in all four independent cohorts with adult AD sampels as control

Summary

Introduction

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common inflammatory skin disease with an estimated prevalence of around 20% in children and 7–10% in adults [1,2,3,4]. The initiation of AD typically happens very early in life, but most of our understanding of AD is derived from studies on AD patients in adult. The molecular mechanism underlying pediatric AD initiation and progression is elusive, resulting in a lack of specific treatment for this disease. Bioinformatics analysis of microarray data is increasingly valued as a promising tool in gene expression profiling in inflammatory diseases to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that play important role in the diseases [6,7,8]. Comparative analysis of the DEGs between pediatric AD and adult AD remains to be elucidated

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Conclusion