Multiomics Analysis of Genetics and Epigenetics Reveals Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Targets for Atrial Fibrillation

This study is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms and exploring potential therapeutic targets for atrial fibrillation (AF) by multiomics analysis.

Transcriptomics and methylation data of AF patients were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially methylated sites between AF and normal samples were screened. Then, highly expressed and hypomethylated and lowly expressed and hypermethylated genes were identified for AF. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was presented to construct AF-related coexpression networks. 52 AF blood samples were used for whole exome sequence. The mutation was visualized by the maftools package in R. Key genes were validated in AF using independent datasets.

DEGs were identified between AF and controls, which were enriched in neutrophil activation and regulation of actin cytoskeleton. RHOA, CCR2, CASP8, and SYNPO2L exhibited abnormal expression and methylation, which have been confirmed to be related to AF. PCDHA family genes had high methylation and low expression in AF. We constructed two AF-related coexpression modules. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was the most common mutation type in AF, especially T > C. MUC4 was the most frequent mutation gene, followed by PHLDA1, AHNAK2, and MAML3. There was no statistical difference in expression of AHNAK2 and MAML3, for AF. PHLDA1 and MUC4 were confirmed to be abnormally expressed in AF.

Our findings identified DEGs related to DNA methylation and mutation for AF, which may offer possible therapeutic targets and a new insight into the pathogenesis of AF from a multiomics perspective.