The pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy is not completely understood, and the effects of existing treatments are not satisfactory. Various public platforms already contain extensive data for deeper bioinformatics analysis. From the GSE30529 dataset based on diabetic nephropathy tubular samples, we identified 345 genes through differential expression analysis and weighted gene coexpression correlation network analysis. GO annotations mainly included neutrophil activation, regulation of immune effector process, positive regulation of cytokine production and neutrophil-mediated immunity. KEGG pathways mostly included phagosome, complement and coagulation cascades, cell adhesion molecules and the AGE-RAGE signalling pathway in diabetic complications. Additional datasets were analysed to understand the mechanisms of differential gene expression from an epigenetic perspective. Differentially expressed miRNAs were obtained to construct a miRNA-mRNA network from the miRNA profiles in the GSE57674 dataset. The miR-1237-3p/SH2B3, miR-1238-5p/ ZNF652 and miR-766-3p/TGFBI axes may be involved in diabetic nephropathy. The methylation levels of the 345 genes were also tested based on the gene methylation profiles of the GSE121820 dataset. The top 20 hub genes in the PPI network were discerned using the CytoHubba tool. Correlation analysis with GFR showed that SYK, CXCL1, LYN, VWF, ANXA1, C3, HLA-E, RHOA, SERPING1, EGF and KNG1 may be involved in diabetic nephropathy. Eight small molecule compounds were identified as potential therapeutic drugs using Connectivity Map. It is estimated that a total of 451 million people suffered from diabetes by 2017, and the number is speculated to be 693 million by 2045 1. As one of the most serious microvascular complications, diabetic nephropathy (DN) has been a major cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in many countries. The congregation of advanced glycation end-products, oxidative stress and activation of protein kinase C are the major pathogeneses of DN. A new viewpoint holds that tubular injury plays an important and even initial role 2. Current treatment strategies for DN aim at controlling blood glucose and blood pressure levels and inhibiting the RAS system to reduce albuminuria and delay the progression of DN 3. However, considering the high incidence of DN-related ESRD, the effect is not entirely satisfactory. Therefore, there is a critical need to identify new therapeutic targets and improve clinical management. High-throughput sequencing technology offers an effective method to study disease-related genes and provides promising medication goals in many fields 4. To date, several studies have screened genes or miRNAs involved in DN 5-9. Integrating these data could overcome the heterogeneity of studies and provide more accurate information. This study identified target genes that may improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of DN and provide a resource to build new hypotheses for further follow-up studies. We suggest that the complement system may serve as a thera...