Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.

<h4>Background</h4>Inflammation is the common pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis disease (CAD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although it is established that RA increases the risk of CAD, the underlining mechanism remained indefinite. This study seeks to explore the molecular mecha...

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Main Authors: Zhenzhen Zhang, Yupeng Chen, Xiaodan Fu, Linying Chen, Junlan Wang, Qingqiang Zheng, Sheng Zhang, Xia Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300022&type=printable
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author Zhenzhen Zhang
Yupeng Chen
Xiaodan Fu
Linying Chen
Junlan Wang
Qingqiang Zheng
Sheng Zhang
Xia Zhu
author_facet Zhenzhen Zhang
Yupeng Chen
Xiaodan Fu
Linying Chen
Junlan Wang
Qingqiang Zheng
Sheng Zhang
Xia Zhu
author_sort Zhenzhen Zhang
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Inflammation is the common pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis disease (CAD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although it is established that RA increases the risk of CAD, the underlining mechanism remained indefinite. This study seeks to explore the molecular mechanisms of RA linked CAD and identify potential target gene for early prediction of CAD in RA patients.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>The study utilized five raw datasets: GSE55235, GSE55457, GSE12021 for RA patients, and GSE42148 and GSE20680 for CAD patients. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was used to investigate common signaling pathways associated with RA and CAD. Then, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed on RA and CAD training datasets to identify gene modules related to single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA) scores. Overlapping module genes and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were considered as co-susceptible genes for both diseases. Three hub genes were screened using a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis via Cytoscape plug-ins. The signaling pathways, immune infiltration, and transcription factors associated with these hub genes were analyzed to explore the underlying mechanism connecting both diseases. Immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR were conducted to validate the expression of the key candidate gene, PPARG, in macrophages of synovial tissue and arterial walls from RA and CAD patients.<h4>Results</h4>The study found that Fc-gamma receptor-mediated endocytosis is a common signaling pathway for both RA and CAD. A total of 25 genes were screened by WGCNA and DEGs, which are involved in inflammation-related ligand-receptor interactions, cytoskeleton, and endocytosis signaling pathways. The principal component analysis(PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrate that 25 DEGs can effectively distinguish RA and CAD groups from normal groups. Three hub genes TUBB2A, FKBP5, and PPARG were further identified by the Cytoscape software. Both FKBP5 and PPARG were downregulated in synovial tissue of RA and upregulated in the peripheral blood of CAD patients and differential mRNAexpreesion between normal and disease groups in both diseases were validated by qRT-PCR.Association of PPARG with monocyte was demonstrated across both training and validation datasets in CAD. PPARG expression is observed in control synovial epithelial cells and foamy macrophages of arterial walls, but was decreased in synovial epithelium of RA patients. Its expression in foamy macrophages of atherosclerotic vascular walls exhibits a positive correlation (r = 0.6276, p = 0.0002) with CD68.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Our findings suggest that PPARG may serve as a potentially predictive marker for CAD in RA patients, which provides new insights into the molecular mechanism underling RA linked CAD.
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spelling doaj.art-0276f07fcfe844ada4099cf85e534c612024-04-14T05:31:42ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01194e030002210.1371/journal.pone.0300022Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.Zhenzhen ZhangYupeng ChenXiaodan FuLinying ChenJunlan WangQingqiang ZhengSheng ZhangXia Zhu<h4>Background</h4>Inflammation is the common pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis disease (CAD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although it is established that RA increases the risk of CAD, the underlining mechanism remained indefinite. This study seeks to explore the molecular mechanisms of RA linked CAD and identify potential target gene for early prediction of CAD in RA patients.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>The study utilized five raw datasets: GSE55235, GSE55457, GSE12021 for RA patients, and GSE42148 and GSE20680 for CAD patients. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was used to investigate common signaling pathways associated with RA and CAD. Then, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed on RA and CAD training datasets to identify gene modules related to single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA) scores. Overlapping module genes and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were considered as co-susceptible genes for both diseases. Three hub genes were screened using a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis via Cytoscape plug-ins. The signaling pathways, immune infiltration, and transcription factors associated with these hub genes were analyzed to explore the underlying mechanism connecting both diseases. Immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR were conducted to validate the expression of the key candidate gene, PPARG, in macrophages of synovial tissue and arterial walls from RA and CAD patients.<h4>Results</h4>The study found that Fc-gamma receptor-mediated endocytosis is a common signaling pathway for both RA and CAD. A total of 25 genes were screened by WGCNA and DEGs, which are involved in inflammation-related ligand-receptor interactions, cytoskeleton, and endocytosis signaling pathways. The principal component analysis(PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrate that 25 DEGs can effectively distinguish RA and CAD groups from normal groups. Three hub genes TUBB2A, FKBP5, and PPARG were further identified by the Cytoscape software. Both FKBP5 and PPARG were downregulated in synovial tissue of RA and upregulated in the peripheral blood of CAD patients and differential mRNAexpreesion between normal and disease groups in both diseases were validated by qRT-PCR.Association of PPARG with monocyte was demonstrated across both training and validation datasets in CAD. PPARG expression is observed in control synovial epithelial cells and foamy macrophages of arterial walls, but was decreased in synovial epithelium of RA patients. Its expression in foamy macrophages of atherosclerotic vascular walls exhibits a positive correlation (r = 0.6276, p = 0.0002) with CD68.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Our findings suggest that PPARG may serve as a potentially predictive marker for CAD in RA patients, which provides new insights into the molecular mechanism underling RA linked CAD.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300022&type=printable
spellingShingle Zhenzhen Zhang
Yupeng Chen
Xiaodan Fu
Linying Chen
Junlan Wang
Qingqiang Zheng
Sheng Zhang
Xia Zhu
Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.
PLoS ONE
title Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.
title_full Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.
title_fullStr Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.
title_full_unstemmed Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.
title_short Identification of PPARG as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis.
title_sort identification of pparg as key gene to link coronary atherosclerosis disease and rheumatoid arthritis via microarray data analysis
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300022&type=printable
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