Time-Series Expression Profile Analysis of Post-Traumatic Joint Contracture in Rats at the Early Stages of the Healing Process.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to characterize the gene expression profile at the early stages of the healing process of post-traumatic joint contracture (PTJC).

METHODS

Twelve rats were used for PTJC model establishment and were divided into four groups according to the sampling time: S0d, S3d, S7d and S2w. Transcriptome sequencing was performed on fibrotic joint capsule samples in four groups followed by bioinformatics analyses including differentially expressed genes (DEGs) screening, Short Time-series Expression Miner (STEM) analysis, network construction, and pathway analysis. Five important genes were validated by qRT-PCR.

RESULTS

A total of 1171, 1052 and 793 DEGs were screened in S3d vs S0d, S7d vs S0d, and S2w vs S0d comparison groups, respectively. A total of 383 overlapping genes were screened out, which were significantly enriched in some inflammatory functions and pathways. Through STEM analysis, three clusters were identified, including 105, 57 and 57 DEGs, respectively. Then, based on the cluster genes, 10 genes, such as and were further selected after PPI and pathway analyses. The expression levels of and were validated by qRT-PCR.

CONCLUSION

The present study screened out several genes with significant changes in expression levels at the early stages of the healing process in PTJC, such as and . Our study offers a valuable contribution to the understanding pathomechanism of PTJC.