Identification of Hub Genes in Pediatric Medulloblastoma by Multiple-Microarray Analysis

Pediatric medulloblastoma is the leading cause of cancer-related death in children. However, few studies have reported gene expression profiles of pediatric medulloblastoma and the molecular mechanism underlying this disease is unclear. To identify essential genes in pediatric medulloblastoma, we analyzed three microarray data sets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We identified 1798 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using the limma package. Gene set enrichment analysis demonstrated that "entrainment of circadian clock by photoperiod," "regulation of triglyceride biosynthetic process," and "snare complex" pathway were significantly enriched gene sets that correlated with pediatric medulloblastoma. Enriched Gene Ontology annotations of DEGs mostly included "ion-gated channel activity," "gated channel activity," and "channel activity." Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis revealed that DEGs were enriched in "glutamatergic synapse," "synaptic vesicle cycle," and "GABAergic synapse." Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis showed that RAB5C, VAMP2, AP2M1, FNBP1, AP2A1, SYT1, SYNJ2, SYT2, HIP1R, UBB, WNT5A, SH3GL2, SYNJ1, EPN1, and DNM1 were hub genes. In conclusion, the identification of the above hub genes and pathways will help to reveal the pathogenesis of pediatric medulloblastoma and will also provide prognostic markers and therapeutic targets for pediatric medulloblastoma.