Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics

Abstract Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most severe and more common organ manifestations of the autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus. Ferroptosis, a novel type of programmed cell death, so far its role in LN remains uncertain. In the present study, we explored the role of ferroptosis...

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Main Authors: Weitao Hu, Xiaoqing Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2022-11-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23730-8
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author Weitao Hu
Xiaoqing Chen
author_facet Weitao Hu
Xiaoqing Chen
author_sort Weitao Hu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most severe and more common organ manifestations of the autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus. Ferroptosis, a novel type of programmed cell death, so far its role in LN remains uncertain. In the present study, we explored the role of ferroptosis in LN and its relationship with the immune response. The GSE112943 LN dataset was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Ferroptosis-Related Genes (FRGs) that drive, suppress or mark ferroptosis were retrieved from the public FerrDb database. The gene expression matrix of the GSE112943 dataset was analyzed with the “limma” package in R to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between LN and healthy samples. Subsequently, the crossover genes between DEGs and FRGs were identified as differentially expressed ferroptosis-related genes (DE-FRGs). Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, visualization, and identification of hub lupus nephritis ferroptosis-related genes (LN-FRGs) were performed with STRING and Cytoscape, while their Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways were determined with the clusterProfiler package. Immune cell infiltration was calculated with CIBERSORT. The relationship between hub LN-FRGs and immune-infiltrated cells in LN was determined by Pearson correlation. A total of 96 DE-FRGs and 8 hub LN-FRGs (KRAS, PIK3CA, EGFR, MAPK14, SRC, MAPK3, VEGFA, and ATM) were identified. GO and KEGG functional classification indicated these genes enrichment in apoptotic process, programmed cell death, autophagy-animal, FoxO signaling pathway, relaxin signaling pathway, and VEGF signaling pathway. Infiltration matrix analysis of immune cells showed abundant Monocytes and M0/M1/M2 macrophages in LN kidney tissues. Correlation analysis revealed 8 hub LN-FRGs associated with immune-infiltrated cells in LN. In summary, overproduction of ROS and abnormal infiltration of immune cells would be implicated in the LN caused by ferroptosis. 8 hub lupus nephritis ferroptosis-related genes (LN-FRGs) which might be good biomarkers of ferroptosis in LN were identified in this study. These findings point to the immune response playing an important role in LN caused by ferroptosis via mutual regulation between hub LN-FRGs and immune-infiltrated cells.
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spelling doaj.art-b3c30e11d1ec47b39a4c31ad7492b1f42022-12-22T03:58:05ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-0112111210.1038/s41598-022-23730-8Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformaticsWeitao Hu0Xiaoqing Chen1Department of Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical UniversityDepartment of Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical UniversityAbstract Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most severe and more common organ manifestations of the autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus. Ferroptosis, a novel type of programmed cell death, so far its role in LN remains uncertain. In the present study, we explored the role of ferroptosis in LN and its relationship with the immune response. The GSE112943 LN dataset was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Ferroptosis-Related Genes (FRGs) that drive, suppress or mark ferroptosis were retrieved from the public FerrDb database. The gene expression matrix of the GSE112943 dataset was analyzed with the “limma” package in R to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between LN and healthy samples. Subsequently, the crossover genes between DEGs and FRGs were identified as differentially expressed ferroptosis-related genes (DE-FRGs). Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, visualization, and identification of hub lupus nephritis ferroptosis-related genes (LN-FRGs) were performed with STRING and Cytoscape, while their Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways were determined with the clusterProfiler package. Immune cell infiltration was calculated with CIBERSORT. The relationship between hub LN-FRGs and immune-infiltrated cells in LN was determined by Pearson correlation. A total of 96 DE-FRGs and 8 hub LN-FRGs (KRAS, PIK3CA, EGFR, MAPK14, SRC, MAPK3, VEGFA, and ATM) were identified. GO and KEGG functional classification indicated these genes enrichment in apoptotic process, programmed cell death, autophagy-animal, FoxO signaling pathway, relaxin signaling pathway, and VEGF signaling pathway. Infiltration matrix analysis of immune cells showed abundant Monocytes and M0/M1/M2 macrophages in LN kidney tissues. Correlation analysis revealed 8 hub LN-FRGs associated with immune-infiltrated cells in LN. In summary, overproduction of ROS and abnormal infiltration of immune cells would be implicated in the LN caused by ferroptosis. 8 hub lupus nephritis ferroptosis-related genes (LN-FRGs) which might be good biomarkers of ferroptosis in LN were identified in this study. These findings point to the immune response playing an important role in LN caused by ferroptosis via mutual regulation between hub LN-FRGs and immune-infiltrated cells.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23730-8
spellingShingle Weitao Hu
Xiaoqing Chen
Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics
Scientific Reports
title Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics
title_full Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics
title_fullStr Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics
title_full_unstemmed Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics
title_short Identification of hub ferroptosis-related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics
title_sort identification of hub ferroptosis related genes and immune infiltration in lupus nephritis using bioinformatics
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23730-8
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AT xiaoqingchen identificationofhubferroptosisrelatedgenesandimmuneinfiltrationinlupusnephritisusingbioinformatics