Objectives
The purpose of this study was to define the underlying biological mechanisms of PCOS utilizing the protein-protein interaction networks that were constructed based on the putative disease-causing genes for PCOS.
Design
No animals were used in this research because this study is an In-Silico studies which mainly uses softwares and online analysis tools.
Participants/Materials, Settings
Genes datasets related with PCOS were obtained from Genecard.
Methods
The protein-protein interaction networks (PPIN) of PCOS were created using the String Database after genes related with PCOS were obtained from Genecard. After that, we performed an analysis of the hub-gene clusters extracted from the PPIN using the ShinyGO algorithm. In the final step of this research project, functional enrichment analysis was used to investigate the primary biological activities and signaling pathways that were associated with the hub clusters.
Results
The Genecard database provided the source for the identification of a total of 1072 potential genes related with PCOS. The PPIN that was generated by using the genes that we collected above contained a total of 82 genes and three different types of cluster interaction interactions. In addition, after conducting research on the PPIN with the shinyGO plug-in, 19 of the most important gene clusters were discovered. The primary biological functions that were enriched in the key clusters that were developed were ovarian stereoidogenesis, breast cancer pathway, regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism by AMPK pathway, and ovarian stereoidogenesis. The integrated analysis that was performed in the current study demonstrated that these hub clusters and their connected genes are closely associated to the pathogenesis of PCOS.
Limitations
Several of the significant genes that were identified in this study, such as ACVR1, SMAD5, BMP6, SMAD3, SMAD4 and AMH. It is necessary to do additional research using large samples, several centers, and multiple ethnicities in order to verify these findings.
Conclusions
The integrated analysis that was performed in the current study demonstrated that these hub clusters and their connected genes are closely associated to the pathogenesis of PCOS. This information may possibly bring unique insights for the treatment of PCOS as well as the investigation of its underlying pathogenic mechanism.