Identification of key genes in human airway epithelial cells in response to respiratory pathogens using microarray analysis

Yinghua Li,Jianquan Zhang,Xiaoning Zhong,Zhiyi He,Guangnan Liu

doi:10.1186/s12866-018-1187-7

Abstract

BackgroundAirway epithelium is the primary target for pathogens. It functions not only as a mechanical barrier, but also as an important sentinel of the innate immune system. However, the interactions and processes between host airway epithelium and pathogens are not fully understood.ResultsIn this study, we identified responses of the human airway epithelium cells to respiratory pathogen infection. We retrieved three mRNA expression microarray datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, and identified 116 differentially expressed genes common to all three datasets. Gene functional annotations were performed using Gene Ontology and pathway analyses. Using protein-protein interaction network analysis and text mining, we identified a subset of genes functioned as a group and associated with infection, inflammation, tissue adhesion, and receptor internalization in infected epithelial cells. These genes were further identified in BESE-2B cells in response to Talaromyces marneffei by Real-Time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). In addition, we performed an in silico prediction of microRNA-target interactions and examined our findings.ConclusionsUsing bioinformatics analysis, we identified several genes that may serve as biomarkers for the diagnosis or the surveillance of early respiratory tract infection, and identified additional genes and miRNAs that warrant further fundamental experimental research.

Highlights

Airway epithelium is the primary target for pathogens
We retrieved three datasets of mRNA expression microarrays from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and using bioinformatics analysis, we identified a group of genes as biomarkers in airway epithelial cells response to infection by respiratory pathogens, and we identified several candidate targets for further fundamental experimental research
Thirty-five samples were used consisting of 10 samples of normal human bronchial epithelial cells and 25 samples of human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to the H1N1 influenza virus, the respiratory syncytial virus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Airway epithelium is the primary target for pathogens It functions as a mechanical barrier, and as an important sentinel of the innate immune system. Respiratory tract infections are common diseases caused by a number of diverse pathogens. These diseases are serious public health concerns globally and pose significant challenges for the World Health Organization. The airway epithelium is an extremely important barrier against respiratory pathogens. It covers a large surface area and is the primary target for respiratory pathogens [4]. In addition to acting as a natural barrier, recent studies found that airway epithelium functions as an important sentinel of the innate immune system against pathogens [5]. In addition to being able to invade epithelial cells, some pathogens are

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