[Bioinformatics of key genes and signaling pathways in macrophages in patients with rheumatoid arthritis]

Objective To screen key genes and signaling pathways in macrophages from patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA) by bioinformatics. Methods Download the gene chip of synovial macrophages of RA patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, obtain differentially expressed genes through the GEO2R function, and use the search tool for the retrival of interacting genes/proteins (STRING) database to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Enrichment analysis was performed on key genes in Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomics (KEGG). Results By integrating 3 gene chip datasets, 87 differentially expressed genes were obtained, and 10 key genes were further obtained. The enrichment analysis found that key genes were associated with leukocyte migration, macrophage differentiation, platelet degranulation, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity. Other biological processes are closely related to phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling. Conclusion Key genes of macrophages in RA patients are associated with inflammatory response and may be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation in RA.