Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Department of Dermatology, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2024 Oct;42(10):2049-2056. doi: 10.55563/clinexprheumatol/05pc5q. Epub 2024 Jul 15.
Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory condition with recurrent skin lesions, uveitis, and oral and genital ulcers. Neutrophils are important in the pathogenesis of BD, but their molecular mechanisms are unclear.
We performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis on the transcriptome of neutrophils from 10 BD patients and 10 healthy controls to identify hub genes and gene modules associated with BD.
We found eight co-expression modules with different biological functions. The turquoise module was involved in response to hydrogen peroxide and reactive oxygen species, the blue module was involved in response to external stimulus and inflammatory response, and the brown module was involved in the type I interferon signalling pathway. We further identified hub genes and transcription factors in each module by using module membership and gene significance.
Our results reveal novel gene modules and hub genes that are associated with neutrophil activation and dysfunction in BD, which could serve as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for this disease.
贝切特病（BD）是一种慢性炎症性疾病，具有反复发作的皮肤损伤、葡萄膜炎、口腔和生殖器溃疡。中性粒细胞在 BD 的发病机制中起重要作用，但它们的分子机制尚不清楚。
我们对 10 名 BD 患者和 10 名健康对照者的中性粒细胞转录组进行了加权基因共表达网络分析，以鉴定与 BD 相关的枢纽基因和基因模块。
我们发现了八个具有不同生物学功能的共表达模块。绿松石模块参与对过氧化氢和活性氧的反应，蓝色模块参与对外界刺激和炎症反应的反应，棕色模块参与 I 型干扰素信号通路。我们进一步通过模块成员和基因显著性来确定每个模块中的枢纽基因和转录因子。
我们的研究结果揭示了与 BD 中性粒细胞激活和功能障碍相关的新基因模块和枢纽基因，这些基因可能成为该疾病的潜在生物标志物和治疗靶点。
