Microarray analysis for transcriptomic profiling in neuroscience: uncovering key molecular mechanisms and candidate...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to cognitive decline, memory loss, and neuronal damage. Advances in high-throughput technologies, such as microarrays, have significantly enhanced our understanding of complex diseases by enabling large-scale gene expression analysis. This study explores differentially expressed genes (DEGs), key hub genes, and dysregulated pathways in AD using the GSE118553 dataset, aiming to uncover potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Gene expression data from AD and control brain tissues were analyzed to identify DEGs. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to determine hub genes, followed by subnetwork and co-expression analyses. Functional enrichment analysis, including Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), was performed to examine the biological pathways involved in AD. A total of 108 DEGs were identified, including 79 upregulated and 29 downregulated genes. Among these, 15 hub genes (FOS, CD44, THBS1, CCL2, HSPA1A, HSPA1B, FGF2, COL6A3, KLF4, CD74, DNAJB1, HSPA6, SPARC, YAP1, and BAG3) were significantly dysregulated. Functional enrichment analysis revealed key pathways related to heat acclimation, inclusion body regulation, and protein homeostasis. Additionally, potential therapeutic strategies were proposed to target these pathways and slow AD progression. This study identified crucial hub genes and dysregulated pathways in AD, with COL6A3 and BAG3 emerging as novel candidate genes. These findings provide deeper insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying AD and suggest potential therapeutic targets. Future research should focus on validating these findings and developing targeted interventions to regulate the identified pathways.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-025-04645-3.