Correlation in gene expression between the aggravation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the occurrence of complications

Abstract

Aggravation of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often leads to a slew of complications, but the correlation between COPD aggravation and the complications on the basis of molecular level remains unclear. In this study, gene expression profiles of COPD in patients at early and aggravation stages were collected and differentially-expressed genes were selected. Meanwhile, gene expression data implicated in COPD complications were analyzed to establish a regulatory network of COPD aggravation and COPD related complications. In addition, the gene enrichment function of DAVID6.7 was utilized to evaluate the similarities between COPD aggravation and COPD complications in term of biological process. By analyzing the genes of COPD aggravation and the COPD complications, we found 18 genes highly related to COPD aggravation, among which haptoglobin (HP) was correlated with 14 complications, followed by ADRB2, LCK and CA1, which were related to 13, 11 and 11 complications, respectively. As far as the complications concerned, obesity was regulated by 17 of the 18 genes, which indicated that there was a close correlation between COPD aggravation and obesity. Meanwhile, lung cancer, diabetes and heart failure were regulated by 15, 15 and 14 genes, respectively, among the 18 selected genes. This study suggested the driver genes of COPD aggravation were capable of extensively regulating COPD complications, which would provide a theoretical basis for development of cures for COPD and its complications.

MMP12 serves as an immune cell–related marker of disease status and prognosis in lung squamous cell carcinoma

“…A study showed that the LCK protein is a constitutive component of the T-cell receptor (TCR) ( Jury et al., 2003 ). LCK can regulate the TCR’s function to recognize pathogens’ antigens and generate immune responses ( Cai et al., 2020 ). Based on interconnected cues, we inferred that MMP12 was further involved in the underlying mechanisms of LUSC by participating in T lymphocyte-dominated adaptive reactions.…”