[Bioinformatic analysis of molecular mechanism of IL-17 in regulating ulcerative colitis]

Objective To identify hub genes and key pathways in ulcerative colitis (UC) by bioinformatics. Methods The mRNA expression microarray GSE134025 related to ulcerative colitis was retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ulcerative colitis samples and normal intestinal mucosal cells were screened by the R limma package, and then GO and KEGG pathway analysis was carried out. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by STRING database, and Cytoscape software was used to screen the hub genes in the PPI network. KEGG mapper was employed to mark the location of the hub genes in signal pathway. Results A total of 190 DEGs were screened, of which 147 were up-regulated and 43 were down-regulated. GO function enrichment showed hub genes were mainly involved in biological processes including inflammatory response and positive regulation of proliferation. Cellular component mainly enriched in membrane and plasma membrane, maintaining the molecular functions of mediating heparin binding and cytokines. KEGG analysis showed that the enriched pathways are mainly related to cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, chemokine signaling pathway and other signal transduction pathway. Ten hub genes such as IL-6, CXCL8, CXCL10, CXCL1, CXCL9, ANXA1, IL-1β, CCL20, CXCL2, and CXCL11 were screened out of the PPI network, which were located downstream of the signaling pathway regulated by IL-17. Conclusion The 10 hub genes related to the risk of UC were likely to be regulated by IL-17 during the occurrence and development of UC.