Transcriptome-wide analysis of genes associated with collagen III in human skin

To gain a deeper understanding of the association between several widely used skin aging-related proteins and all other genes within the genome.

Skin transcriptome sequencing data of 142 healthy controls across three different populations were mapped to the NCBI build 37 reference genome. Quantified gene abundances were obtained, and missing data were imputed. Principal component analysis was performed to identify sample stratification. Finally, linear regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationships between the expression levels of these widely used proteins and all other genes.

Following realignment and abundance calculation, a total of 63,677 genes were obtained, and 20,476 genes remained after the quality control. Principal component analysis (PCA) results indicated sample stratification among different populations. Upon performing linear regression analyses across the separate datasets, consistent results were observed. The analysis revealed five protein-coding genes significantly associated with collagen III (P value < 2.44E-6, R² > 0.5). Two protein-coding genes, including collagen III, were positively correlated with fibronectin, and five protein-coding genes were positively correlated with elastin. Enrichment analysis demonstrated that extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction was the most significant pathway associated with genes linked to collagen III and fibronectin (P_{_adjust} = 1.29E-10).

These findings highlight the crucial role of ECM-receptor interaction in the context of collagen III- and fibronectin-related genes, providing valuable insights into the underlying biological mechanisms.