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Updated: Sep 21, 2025
A Mouse Model of Chronic Liver Fibrosis for the Study of Biliary Atresia
Published on: February 3, 2023
Identification of Hub Genes and Immune Infiltration in Pediatric Biliary Atresia by Comprehensive Bioinformatics
Yajing Li1, Huichu Ye1, Yingxue Ding1
1Department of Pediatrics, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China.
Background:
Biliary atresia (BA) is the leading cause of pediatric liver failure and pediatric liver transplantation worldwide. Evidence suggests that the immune system plays a central role in the pathogenesis of BA.
Methods:
In this work, the novel immune-related genes between BA and normal samples were investigated based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and the deconvolution algorithm of CIBERSORT.
Results:
Specifically, 650 DEGs were identified between the BA and normal groups. The blue module was the most positively correlated with BA containing 3274 genes. Totally, 610 overlapping BA-related genes of DEGs and WGCNA were further used to identify IRGs. Three IRGs including VCAM1, HLA-DRA, and CD74 were finally identified as the candidate biomarkers. Particularly, the CD74 biomarker was discovered for the first as a potential immune biomarker for BA.
Conclusions:
Possibly, these 3 IRGs might serve as candidate biomarkers and guide the individualized treatment strategies for BA patients. Our results would provide great insights for a deeper understanding of both the occurrence and the treatment of BA.
