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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Development of a Rabbit Chronic-Like Rotator Cuff Injury Model for Study of Fibrosis and Muscular Fatty Degeneration
Published on: March 31, 2023
Identify differential gene expressions in fatty infiltration process in rotator cuff
Pengfei Hu1,2, Lifeng Jiang1,2, Lidong Wu3
1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 88 Jiefang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310009, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Rotator cuff tears are one of the most frequent upper extremity injuries and lead to pain and disability. Recent studies have implicated fatty infiltration in rotator cuff is a key failure element with the higher re-tear rates and poorer functional prognosis. Therefore, we investigated the differential expression of key genes in each stage of rotator cuff tear.
Methods:
A published expression profile was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and analyzed using the Linear Models for Microarray Data (LIMMA) package in R language to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in different stages of injured rotator cuff muscles. Gene ontology (GO) functional and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to annotate the function of the DEGs. Finally, PPI network and module analysis were used to identify hub genes.
Results:
A total of 1089 fatty infiltration-related DEGs were identified, including 733 upregulated and 356 downregulated genes, and GO analyses confirmed that fatty infiltration was strongly associated with inflammatory response, aging, response to lipopolysaccharide, and immune response. Significantly enriched KEGG pathways associated with these DEGs included the phagosome, cell adhesion molecules, tuberculosis, and osteoclast differentiation. Further analyses via a PPI network and module analysis identified a total of 259 hub genes. Among these, Tmprss11d, Ptprc, Itgam, Mmp9, Tlr2, Il1b, Il18, Ccl5, Cxcl10, and Ccr7 were the top ten hub genes.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicated the potential key genes and pathways involved in fatty degeneration in the development of fatty infiltration and supplied underlying therapeutic targets in the future.
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