Abstract
Background
Numerous growth factors work in consonance to regulate the development and homeostasis of engineered cartilage. In order to fabricate mature cartilages provided to implantation, developing biological processes should be known and employed. In this regard, a systems biology study could be considered as an inexpensive evaluation method. In this work, a systems biology study was performed on 11 protein-coding genes participating in cartilage development.
Results
Developing a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network resulted in a graph with 11 nodes and 28 edges. Additionally, a gene ontology (GO) analysis and a centrality analysis were performed based on the degree index. Four most crucial biological processes involved in cartilage engineering identified by the gene ontology analysis: cartilage development, cartilage condensation, regulation of cartilage development, and cartilage development involved in endochondral bone morphogenesis. Also, seven most interactive proteins were detected performing a degree-based centrality analysis: COL2A1, SOX9, CTGF, BMP7, TGFB1, CD44, and MAPK14.
Conclusion
Cartilage developmental proteins are efficient in forming and developing extracellular matrix and cartilage development, from its formation to the mature structure. However, this in-silico study recommends four most important developmental growth factors applicable to cartilage tissue engineering: COL2A1, SOX9, CTGF, and TGFB1.