Differential co-expression analysis of a microarray gene expression profiles of pulmonary adenocarcinoma

Lung cancer severely reduces the quality of life worldwide and causes high socioeconomic burdens. However, key genes leading to the generation of pulmonary adenocarcinoma remain elusive despite intensive research efforts. The present study aimed to identify the potential associations between transcription factors (TFs) and differentially co‑expressed genes (DCGs) in the regulation of transcription in pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Gene expression profiles of pulmonary adenocarcinoma were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus, and gene expression was analyzed using a computational method. A total of 37,094 differentially co‑expressed links (DCLs) and 251 DCGs were identified, which were significantly enriched in 10 pathways. The construction of the regulatory network and the analysis of the regulatory impact factors revealed eight crucial TFs in the regulatory network. These TFs regulated the expression of DCGs by promoting or inhibiting their expression. In addition, certain TFs and target genes associated with DCGs did not appear in the DCLs, which indicated that those TFs could be synergistic with other factors. This is likely to provide novel insights for research into pulmonary adenocarcinoma. In conclusion, the present study may enhance the understanding of disease mechanisms and lead to an improved diagnosis of lung cancer. However, further studies are required to confirm these observations.