Frontiers in Medicine (Oct 2021)

Identification and Validation of IFI44 as Key Biomarker in Lupus Nephritis

  • Lingling Shen,
  • Lingling Shen,
  • Lingling Shen,
  • Lingling Shen,
  • Lan Lan,
  • Lan Lan,
  • Lan Lan,
  • Lan Lan,
  • Tingting Zhu,
  • Tingting Zhu,
  • Tingting Zhu,
  • Tingting Zhu,
  • Hongjun Chen,
  • Hongjun Chen,
  • Hongjun Chen,
  • Hongjun Chen,
  • Haifeng Gu,
  • Cuili Wang,
  • Cuili Wang,
  • Cuili Wang,
  • Cuili Wang,
  • Ying Chen,
  • Ying Chen,
  • Ying Chen,
  • Ying Chen,
  • Minmin Wang,
  • Haiyan Tu,
  • Philipp Enghard,
  • Hong Jiang,
  • Hong Jiang,
  • Hong Jiang,
  • Hong Jiang,
  • Jianghua Chen,
  • Jianghua Chen,
  • Jianghua Chen,
  • Jianghua Chen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.762848
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

Read online

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a common and severe organ manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is a major cause of SLE related deaths. Early diagnosis is essential to improve the prognosis of patients with LN. To screen the potential biomarkers associated with LN, we downloaded the gene expression profile of GSE99967 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was utilized to construct a gene co-expression network and identify gene modules associated with LN. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was also applied to explore the biological function of genes and identify the key module. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and Maximal Clique Centrality (MCC) values were calculated to screen hub genes. Furthermore, we selected promising biomarkers for real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) validation in independent cohorts. Our results indicated that five hub genes, including IFI44, IFIT3, HERC5, RSAD2, and DDX60 play vital roles in the pathogenesis of LN. Importantly, IFI44 may considered as a key biomarker in LN for its diagnostic capabilities, which is also a promising therapeutic target in the future.

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