Identification of Potential Key Genes Involved in the Carotid Atherosclerosis

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Biology
• Molecular Biology
• Genomics

Background:

• Carotid atherosclerosis is a systemic vascular disease affecting carotid arteries.
• Current treatments for carotid atherosclerosis have limited efficacy.
• Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying carotid atherosclerosis is crucial for developing new therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in carotid atheroma plaque compared to control tissues.
• To elucidate the biological functions and pathways associated with these DEGs.
• To discover potential therapeutic targets for carotid atherosclerosis.

Main Methods:

• Differential gene expression analysis between atheroma plaque and control samples.
• Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses of DEGs.
• Identification of hub genes using four network analysis methods.
• Network module analysis to identify disease-related gene clusters.

Main Results:

• Enrichment analysis revealed significant involvement of inflammation, immunity, chemokines, and cell adhesion molecules.
• Key signaling pathways identified include PI3K-Akt, Rap1, MAPK, NOD-like receptor, and B cell receptor signaling.
• Sixteen upregulated hub genes were identified, including C3AR1, CCR1, CCR2, CD33, CD53, CXCL10, CXCL8, CXCR4, CYBB, FCER1G, FPR2, ITGAL, ITGAM, ITGAX, ITGB2, and LILRB2.
• Five gene modules related to immunity, chemokines, and cell adhesion were identified.

Conclusions:

• This study identified critical DEGs in carotid atheroma plaque.
• The identified key genes and pathways are implicated in the development of carotid atherosclerosis.
• These findings provide potential novel therapeutic targets for managing carotid atherosclerosis.