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Identification of Potential Hub Genes Related to Acute Pancreatitis and Chronic Pancreatitis via Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis and In Vitro Analysis

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Abstract

Acute pancreatitis (AP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP) are considered to be two separate pancreatic diseases in most studies, but some clinical retrospective analyses in recent years have found some degree of correlation between the two in actual treatment, however, the exact association is not clear. In this study, bioinformatics analysis was utilized to examine microarray sequencing data in mice, with the aim of elucidating the critical signaling pathways and genes involved in the progression from AP to CP. Differential gene expression analyses on murine transcriptomes were conducted using the R programming language and the R/Bioconductor package. Additionally, gene network analysis was performed using the STRING database to predict correlations among genes in the context of pancreatic diseases. Functional enrichment and gene ontology pathways common to both diseases were identified using Metascape. The hub genes were screened in the cytoscape algorithm, and the mRNA levels of the hub genes were verified in mice pancreatic tissues of AP and CP. Then the drugs corresponding to the hub genes were obtained in the drug-gene relationship. A set of hub genes, including Jun, Cd44, Epcam, Spp1, Anxa2, Hsp90aa1, and Cd9, were identified through analysis, demonstrating their pivotal roles in the progression from AP to CP. Notably, these genes were found to be enriched in the Helper T-cell factor (Th17) signaling pathway. Up-regulation of these genes in both AP and CP mouse models was validated through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) results. The significance of the Th17 signaling pathway in the transition from AP to CP was underscored by our findings. Specifically, the essential genes driving this progression were identified as Jun, Cd44, Epcam, Spp1, Anxa2, Hsp90aa1, and Cd9. Crucial insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying pancreatitis progression were provided by this research, offering promising avenues for the development of targeted therapeutic interventions.

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The data in this article was obtained online and can be obtained from publicly available databases. This manuscript is not applicable.

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Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82100684), Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing China (CSTB2022NSCQ-MSX1493), Scientific Research Foundation of Chongqing University of Technology, National Natural Science Foundation Incubation project of Chongqing University of Technology (2022PYZ037), and the Funding Achievements of the Action Plan for High Quality Development of Graduate Education at Chongqing University of Technology (gzlcx20233384).

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  1. Lu Yuan and Yiyuan Liu have equal contribution to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, China

    Lu Yuan, Yiyuan Liu, Cai Sun, Sha Ran, Kuilong Huang & Yan Shen

  2. Qingdao Central Hospital, University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Qingdao Central Medical Group), Qingdao, 266042, China

    Lingyan Fan

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  1. Lu Yuan
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Contributions

Yan Shen designed this study and critically revised the manuscript. Lu Yuan and Yiyuan Liu drafted the manuscript. Lingyan Fan acquired and analyzed the data. Yiyuan Liu, Lu Yuan, Cai Sun and Sha Ran did literature search and performed the experiments. Kuilong Huang directed the qRT-PCR experiments and analyzed the data. All authors have reviewed and confirmed the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yan Shen.

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Yuan, L., Liu, Y., Fan, L. et al. Identification of Potential Hub Genes Related to Acute Pancreatitis and Chronic Pancreatitis via Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis and In Vitro Analysis. Mol Biotechnol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-024-01118-5

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