Keloid Biomarkers and Their Correlation With Immune Infiltration

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Immunology
• Dermatology

Background:

• Keloid disorder (KD) is a fibrotic skin condition with limited diagnostic biomarkers.
• Understanding the role of immune cell infiltration (ICI) in KD pathogenesis is crucial for developing targeted therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and validate candidate biomarkers for keloid disorder (KD).
• To analyze the role of immune cell infiltration (ICI) in the pathology of KD.

Main Methods:

• Utilized bioinformatics analysis on GEO datasets (GSE44270, GSE145725) to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs).
• Employed Support Vector Machine-Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE) and LASSO logistic regression for biomarker screening.
• Validated candidate biomarkers using qRT-PCR and assessed ICI via single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA).

Main Results:

• Identified 406 DEGs between keloid and healthy skin samples.
• Validated STC2, SDC4, DAAM1, and NOX4 as potential diagnostic biomarkers for KD with high AUC values.
• Found correlations between specific gene expressions and distinct immune cell populations, suggesting ICI's role in KD.

Conclusions:

• STC2, SDC4, DAAM1, and NOX4 are promising biomarkers for keloid disorder diagnosis.
• Immune cell infiltration plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of keloid disorder, offering therapeutic targets.