Bioinformatics analysis of hub genes for bicuspid aortic valve calcification

  Objective  To explore the hub genes associated with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) calcification by bioinformatics analysis.

  Methods  The BAV-related gene expression matrix and clinical data were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differential genes (DEGs) between calcified BAV and normal aortic valve were screened by Perl and R software. DEGs was performed enrichment analysis by R software, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by Cytoscape. The degree algorithm was used to calculate and take the top 10 DEGs as hub genes. The miRWalk database and FunRich software were used to predict the corresponding microRNA of hub genes and obtain the intersection, and thus the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed.

  Results  A total of 126 DEGs were screened from dataset GSE83453, including 85 up-regulated DEGs and 41 down-regulated DEGs. Totally 10 hub genes were calculated from PPI network and 12 upstream miRNAs were predicted by the hub genes.

  Conclusion  The pathway of BAV calcification may be similar to that of trefoil aortic valve calcification, and the associated hub genes are SPP1 and MMP9. The possible hub genes exacerbating BAV valve disease and leading BAV-related complications are THBS2, COL5A2, COL4A1, COL1A1, COL3A1, COL4A2, COL1A2 and SERPINE1.