Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2023, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (14): 2182-2193.doi: 10.12307/2023.424

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Identification of potential biomarkers of pigmented villonodular synovitis by transcriptome analysis

Liu Yuan1, Liang Xuezhen1, 2, Xu Bo1, 2, Liu Jinbao1, 2, Li Gang1, 2   

  1. 1Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China; 2Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China
  • Received:2022-06-06 Accepted:2022-07-12 Online:2023-05-18 Published:2022-09-30
  • Contact: Li Gang, MD, Professor, Chief physician, Doctoral supervisor, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China; Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China
  • About author:Liu Yuan, Master, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China (General Program), No. 81774333 (to LG); Shandong Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Classic Prescription Cooperative Innovation and Opening Project, No. 2019KFY17 (to XB); Shandong Provincial Key R&D Program, No. 2016GSF202022 (to LG)

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Pigmented villonodular synovitis is a rare synovial inflammatory disease. There is no relevant biomarker for early diagnosis. Messenger RNA (mRNA) has been confirmed to be involved in the occurrence and development of the disease, but its mechanism is not clear.
OBJECTIVE: To identify the potential biomarkers and pathogenesis of pigmented villonodular synovitis by bioinformatics and related transcriptome analysis for differential diagnosis of the disease.
METHODS: The microarray data set of synovial tissue associated with pigmented villonodular synovitis was searched by GEO database, and the differentially expressed genes were identified by NetworkAnalyst analysis (P < 0.05). The genes related to pigmented villonodular synovitis were searched in the disease database, and the differentially expressed genes were obtained by overlap with differentially expressed mRNAs. Tissue/organ localization of specific genes was carried out by BioGPS. The protein-protein interaction network was constructed by STRING database. The differentially expressed genes were enriched and analyzed by KOBAS3.0 and GSEA4.1.0, and the hub genes were identified by multiple computing methods. Cytoscape was used to build competitive endogenous RNA network. GEO dataset validated the biomarkers with high diagnostic value. In addition, the concentrations of 64 kinds of immune cells and stromal cells were analyzed by Xcell website, and the abundance fraction was calculated.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 2 546 differentially expressed genes were identified in the GSE175626 dataset, including 2 317 differentially expressed mRNA and 229 differentially expressed lncRNA. After intersection with the related genes in the disease database, 70 differentially expressed genes were obtained, 60 of which were identified by BioGPS. Compared with patients with osteoarthritis, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed genes in patients with pigmented villonodular synovitis were mainly involved in inflammation, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and immune response. Fifteen hub genes were determined by CytoHubba and four gene cluster modules were identified by MCODE. Twelve heterosexual hub genes were verified by GEO dataset. Immune and stromal cell deconvolution analysis showed that 12 hub genes were closely related to some immune cells. Overall, IL-6, TNF, CD163, KRAS, FN1, HMOX1, GAPDH, IL1B, PTPRC, MAPK1, CCR2, and NFKBIA may be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of pigmented villonodular synovitis. SNHG14-hsa-miR-206-FN1 and XIST-hsa-miR-107-HMOX1/CD163 may be potential RNA pathways to regulate the progression of pigmented villonodular synovitis.

Key words: pigmented villonodular synovitis, biomarker, tissue/organ specific expression, RNA regulatory pathway, deconvolution analysis

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