Identification and Experimental Validation of Autophagy-Related Genes in Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abstract

Aim Autophagy plays essential roles in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) happening and movement. The objective of this study was to verify the autophagy-related genes (ARGs) underlying AAA empirically and using bioinformatics analysis. Methods Two gene expression profile datasets (GSE98278 and GSE57691) were taken from the GEO database. These datasets were combined and then standardized. The underlying differential expression autophagy-related genes (DEARGs) of AAA were tested using R software. PPIs, associativity, GO enrichment and KEGG pathway functional analyses were used to identify the DEARGs. Finally, qRT-PCR was used to identify the RNA expression levels of the top five hub genes in clinical samples. Results In data from 97 AAA patients and 10 healthy controls, a total of 44 DEARGs (6 up-regulated expressed genes and 38 down-regulated expressed genes) were classified. PPI results showed that these ARGs interact. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were directed to elucidate the bio-functional of DEARGs. qRT-PCR results presented that the expressed of IL6, PPARG, SOD1 and MAP1LC3B in AAA cases and negative control were in accordance with the bioinformatic analysis results. Conclusion Hub genes such as IL6, PPARG, SOD1 and MAP1LC3B may influence the happening of AAA by controlling autophagy. These findings enhance interpretation of AAA and may be helpful in its diagnosis and treatment.