Construction and Analysis of Protein-Protein Interaction Network of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a disease with multidimensional complexities. Many attempts have been made over the years to treat this disease but its incidence is rising. For this reason, the need to identify and study new candidate NAFLD biomarkers is of utmost importance. Systems-based approaches such as the analysis of protein-protein interaction (PPI) network could lead to the discovery of new disease biomarkers that can then be translated into clinical practice. The aim of this study is to analyze the interaction network of human proteins associated with NAFLD as well as their experimentally verified interactors and to propose new candidate proteins that may be involved in this disease. Computational analysis made it feasible to detect 77 candidate proteins associated with NAFLD, having high network scores. Furthemore, clustering analysis was performed to identify densely connected regions with biological significance in this network. Additionally, gene expression analysis was conducted to validate part of the findings of this research work. We believe that our research will be helpful in extending experimental efforts to address the pathogenesis and progression of NAFLD.

Transcriptomic analysis of the liver in aged laying hens with different eggshell strength

“…A previous study suggested that downregulation of GRB2 improved hepatic steatosis, glucose metabolism, oxidative stress, and apoptosis by modulating the insulin signaling pathway in HepG2 cells ( Shan et al, 2013 ). According to Amanatidou and Dedoussis (2021) , GRB2 is one of the candidate NAFLD-related proteins. TF is one of the major matrix protein of hen eggshell membranes that consists of 12 to 13% of total egg white protein ( Ko and Ahn, 2008 ).…”