Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis Identifies Key Modules and Hub Genes Associated with Mycobacterial Infection of Human Macrophages

Overview

Journal Antibiotics (Basel)

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2021 Jan 27

PMID 33498280

Citations 5

Authors

Lu Lu

Ranlei Wei

Sanjib Bhakta

Simon J Waddell

Ester Boix

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a leading cause of death worldwide. Treatments remain unsatisfactory due to an incomplete understanding of the underlying host-pathogen interactions during infection. In the present study, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was conducted to identify key macrophage modules and hub genes associated with mycobacterial infection. WGCNA was performed combining our own transcriptomic results using -infected human monocytic macrophages (THP1) with publicly accessible datasets obtained from three types of macrophages infected with seven different mycobacterial strains in various one-to-one combinations. A hierarchical clustering tree of 11,533 genes was built from 198 samples, and 47 distinct modules were revealed. We identified a module, consisting of 226 genes, which represented the common response of host macrophages to different mycobacterial infections that showed significant enrichment in innate immune stimulation, bacterial pattern recognition, and leukocyte chemotaxis. Moreover, by network analysis applied to the 74 genes with the best correlation with mycobacteria infection, we identified the top 10 hub-connecting genes: , , , , , , , , and . Interestingly, apart from the well-known Toll-like receptor and inflammation-associated genes, other genes may serve as novel TB diagnosis markers and potential therapeutic targets.

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Correction: Lu et al. Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis Identifies Key Modules and Hub Genes Associated with Mycobacterial Infection of Human Macrophages. 2021, , 97.

Lu L, Wei R, Bhakta S, Waddell S, Boix E Antibiotics (Basel). 2021; 10(7).

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