Comprehensive analysis reveals a six-gene signature and associated drugs in mimic inguinal hernia model

Inguinal hernia often occurs in elderly men, and more than one in five men will undergo inguinal hernia repair during their lifetime. Nevertheless, the underlying molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis behind hernia formation is still unclear. The aims in this study are finding out the potential gene markers and available drugs.

Firstly, we re-analyzed the GSE92748 datasets, including four high and four low expressions of humanized aromatase transgenic mice, which refers to mimic humanized hernia, to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in Arom^humH group compared with Arom^humL group by the criteria: fold change ≥ 1.4 and adjust P value < 0.05. Secondly, the gene ontology and signaling pathway enrichment analyses of these DEGs were performed through online databases. In addition to the protein and protein interaction networks among these DEGs were constructed and the significant gene modules were chosen for further gene-drug interaction analysis. Lastly, the existing drugs target to these module genes were screen to explore the therapeutic effect for treatment of hernia.

We have identified 64 DEGs, which were associated with muscle system process, actomyosin structure organization etc. Moreover, the significant module genes in PPI networks were Cmya1, Casq2, Cmya5, Ttn, Csrp3 and Actc1, and one existing drug, DEXAMETHASONE, have targeted to Actc1 gene.

In the paper, we identified 6 potential genes and one existing drug for inguinal hernia, which might be used as targets and drugs for the study of inguinal hernia.