Paradigm of Time-sequence Development of the Intestine of Suckling Piglets with Microarray

Investigation into the underlying molecular mechanisms of hypertensive nephrosclerosis using bioinformatics analyses

Hypertensive nephrosclerosis (HNS) is a major risk factor for end-stage renal disease. However, the underlying pathogenesis of HNS remains to be fully determined. The gene expression profile of GSE20602, which consists of 14 glomeruli samples from patients with HNS and 4 normal glomeruli control samples, was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analyses were performed in order to investigate the functions and pathways of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Pathway relation and co‑expression networks were constructed in order to identify key genes and signaling pathways involved in HNS. In total, 483 DEGs were identified to be associated with HNS, including 302 upregulated genes and 181 downregulated genes. Furthermore, GO analysis revealed that DEGs were significantly enriched in the small molecule metabolic process. In addition, pathway analysis also revealed that DEGs were predominantly involved in metabolic pathways. The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle was identified as the hub pathway in the pathway relation network, whereas the sorbitol dehydrogenase (SORD) and cubulin (CUBN) genes were revealed to be the hub genes in the co‑expression network. The present study revealed that the SORD, CUBN and albumin genes as well as the TCA cycle and metabolic pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of HNS. The results of the present study may contribute to the determination of the molecular mechanisms underlying HNS, and provide insight into the exploration of novel targets for the diagnosis and treatment of HNS.

Differential gene expression profiles between two subtypes of ischemic stroke with blood stasis syndromes

Ischemic stroke is a cerebrovascular thrombotic disease with high morbidity and mortality. Qi deficiency blood stasis (QDBS) and Yin deficiency blood stasis (YDBS) are the two major subtypes of ischemic stroke according to the theories of traditional Chinese medicine. This study was conducted to distinguish these two syndromes at transcriptomics level and explore the underlying mechanisms. Male rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham group, QDBS/MCAO group and YDBS/MCAO group. Morphological changes were assessed after 24 h of reperfusion. Microarray analysis with circulating mRNA was then performed to identify differential gene expression profile, gene ontology and pathway enrichment analyses were carried out to predict the gene function, gene co-expression and pathway networks were constructed to identify the hub biomarkers, which were further validated by western blotting and Tunel staining analysis. Three subsets of dysregulated genes were acquired, including 445 QDBS-specific genes, 490 YDBS-specific genes and 1676 blood stasis common genes. Our work reveals for the first time that T cell receptor, MAPK and apoptosis pathway were identified as the hub pathways based on the pathway networks, while Nfκb1, Egfr and Casp3 were recognized as the hub genes by co-expression networks. This research helps contribute to a clearer understanding of the pathological characteristics of ischemic stroke with QDBS and YDBS syndrome, the proposed biomarkers might provide insight into the accurate diagnose and proper treatment for ischemic stroke with blood stasis syndrome.