Unrevealing of dysregulated hub genes linked with immune system and inflammatory signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome by system biology approaches

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel movements. This disorder affects up to 10–23% of people globally and can affect both children and adults. Therefore, it is important to uncover early and novel therapeutic biomarkers and also reveal the pathobiology mechanisms of IBS. The main goal of this study is to investigate the hub genes and putative molecular mechanisms in IBS. Firstly, we identified 73 mutual differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from three RNA-seq databases. Then, functional gene annotation and pathway analysis of these common DEGs were enriched with interferon signaling, interferon gamma signaling, antigen processing-cross presentation, adaptive immune system, cytokine signaling in immune system, type II interferon signaling (IFNG), notch signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and IL-4 signaling pathway. In addition, a total number of 9 hub genes discovered as candidates of potential therapeutic biomarkers of IBS pathogenesis. Furthermore, transcription factors and regulatory protein kinases were identified as key signature molecules linked with IBS pathobiology. Taken together, this current study provided a novel understanding of biological mechanisms of IBS and may provide promising therapeutic targets.

Keywords

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
• Therapeutic biomarkers
• Gene annotation
• Pathway analysis
• Hub genes