Li Qiong, Xu Zhichao, Fang Fujin, Shen Yan, Lei Huan, Shen Xiaobing
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Front Genet. 2023 Mar 24;14:1055372. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1055372. eCollection 2023.
For individuals acutely exposed to high-altitude regions, environmental hypobaric hypoxia induces several physiological or pathological responses, especially immune dysfunction. Therefore, hypoxia is a potentially life-threatening factor, which has closely related to high-altitude acclimatization. However, its specific molecular mechanism is still unclear. The four expression profiles about hypoxia and high altitude were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database in this study. Meta-analysis of GEO datasets was performed by NetworkAnalyst online tool. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, and visualization were performed using R (version 4.1.3) software, respectively. The CIBERSORT analysis was conducted on GSE46480 to examine immune cell infiltration. In addition, we experimentally verified the bioinformatics analysis with qRT-PCR. The meta-analysis identified 358 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 209 upregulated and 149 downregulated. DEGs were mostly enriched in biological processes and pathways associated with hypoxia acclimatization at high altitudes, according to both GO and KEGG enrichment analyses. ERH, VBP1, BINP3L, TOMM5, PSMA4, and POLR2K were identified by taking intersections of the DEGs between meta-analysis and GSE46480 and verified by qRT-PCR experiments, which were inextricably linked to hypoxia. Immune infiltration analysis showed significant differences in immune cells between samples at sea level and high altitudes. Identifying the DEGs and pathways will improve our understanding of immune function during high-altitude hypoxia at a molecular level. Targeting hypoxia-sensitive pathways in immune cells is interesting in treating high-altitude sickness. This study provides support for further research on high-altitude acclimatization.
对于急性暴露于高海拔地区的个体,环境低压缺氧会引发多种生理或病理反应,尤其是免疫功能障碍。因此,缺氧是一个潜在的危及生命的因素,与高原适应密切相关。然而,其具体分子机制仍不清楚。本研究从基因表达综合数据库下载了关于缺氧和高海拔的四个表达谱。通过NetworkAnalyst在线工具对GEO数据集进行荟萃分析。分别使用R(版本4.1.3)软件进行京都基因与基因组百科全书(KEGG)、基因本体论(GO)富集分析及可视化。对GSE46480进行CIBERSORT分析以检测免疫细胞浸润。此外,我们通过qRT-PCR实验对生物信息学分析进行了实验验证。荟萃分析鉴定出358个差异表达基因(DEG),其中209个上调,149个下调。根据GO和KEGG富集分析,DEG大多富集于与高原缺氧适应相关的生物学过程和通路。通过荟萃分析与GSE46480之间的DEG交集鉴定出ERH、VBP1、BINP3L、TOMM5、PSMA4和POLR2K,并通过qRT-PCR实验进行验证,它们与缺氧密切相关。免疫浸润分析显示海平面和高海拔样本之间免疫细胞存在显著差异。鉴定DEG和通路将提高我们在分子水平上对高原缺氧期间免疫功能的理解。针对免疫细胞中的缺氧敏感通路在治疗高原病方面具有重要意义。本研究为高原适应的进一步研究提供了支持。