Comprehensive Gene Expression Analysis Reveals Factors that Influence the Progression, Occurrence and Development of AML-M4

Abstract

Background Acute myelomonocytic leukemia (M4), a special type of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), is a clonal malignant disease with poor prognosis and a low overall survival rate. Here, we aim to explore the molecular mechanism of AML-M4 development and progression using integrative bioinformatic analysis. Methods We used an integrative method to identify potential driven genes in AML-M4. We firstly identify DEGs using limma packages and annotated them by GO and KEGG. To avoid individual bias, GSEA was adopted to certify the results. Furthermore, we constructed the PPI network using WGCNA which was superimposed onto STRING database. We also assessed the correlation and mutation among hub genes to deeply explore the biological mechanism in AML-M4. Finally, we confirmed our results by experiments. Results The results show that FLT3, WT1 and TP53, which are involved in transcriptional misregulation were upregulated, while PPBP and CCR7, which regulate cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, as well as CD24, which acts as a protein marker of AML, were downregulated. 12 hub genes were found through the TCGA an Oncomain analysis, and the results also show that FLT3, CCR7 and MMP-9 can be potential targets for the detection and treatment of AML-M4. Conclusion The overall aim of this study was to identify critical pathways and genes associated with AML-M4, and to also provide potential therapeutic targets and new research ideas for the treatment and early detection of AML-M4.