Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 6, 2020; 8(5): 854-863
Published online Mar 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i5.854
Repair mechanism of astrocytes and non-astrocytes in spinal cord injury
Xiang-Yun Liu, Jian-Wei Guo, Jian-Qiang Kou, Yuan-Liang Sun, Xiu-Jun Zheng
Xiang-Yun Liu, Jian-Wei Guo, Jian-Qiang Kou, Yuan-Liang Sun, Xiu-Jun Zheng, Department of Spinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266003, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Zheng XJ and Liu XY designed the research; Guo JW and Kou JQ performed the research; Sun YL and Zheng XJ analyzed the data and wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Ethics Committee.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiu-Jun Zheng, PhD, Chief Physician, Department of Spinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No.16, Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266003, Shandong Province, China. xiyi5148141@163.com
Received: November 22, 2019
Peer-review started: November 22, 2019
First decision: December 23, 2019
Revised: December 30, 2019
Accepted: February 10, 2020
Article in press: February 10, 2020
Published online: March 6, 2020
Processing time: 101 Days and 8.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a destructive disease that incurs huge personal and social costs, and there is no effective treatment. Although the pathogenesis and treatment mechanism of SCI has always been a strong scientific focus, the pathogenesis of SCI is still under investigation.

AIM

To determine the key genes based on the modularization of in-depth analysis, in order to identify the repair mechanism of astrocytes and non-astrocytes in SCI.

METHODS

Firstly, the differences between injured and non-injured spinal cord of astrocyte (HA), injured and non-injured spinal cord of non-astrocyte (FLOW), injured spinal cord of non-injured astrocyte (HA) and non-injured spinal cord of non-astrocyte (FLOW), and non-injured spinal cord of astrocyte (HA) and non-astrocyte (FLOW) were analyzed. The total number of differentially expressed genes was obtained by merging the four groups of differential results. Secondly, the genes were co-expressed and clustered. Then, the enrichment of GO function and KEGG pathway of module genes was analyzed. Finally, non-coding RNA, transcription factors and drugs that regulate module genes were predicted using hypergeometric tests.

RESULTS

In summary, we obtained 19 expression modules involving 5216 differentially expressed genes. Among them, miR-494, XIST and other genes were differentially expressed in SCI patients, and played an active regulatory role in dysfunction module, and these genes were recognized as the driving genes of SCI. Enrichment results showed that module genes were significantly involved in the biological processes of inflammation, oxidation and apoptosis. Signal pathways such as NF-kappa B/A20, AMPK and MAPK were significantly regulated. In addition, non-coding RNA pivot (including miR-136-5p and let-7d-5p, etc.) and transcription factor pivot (including NFKB1, MYC, etc.) were identified as significant regulatory dysfunction modules.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this study uncovered a co-expression network of key genes involved in astrocyte and non-astrocyte regulation in SCI. These findings helped to reveal the core dysfunction modules, potential regulatory factors and driving genes of the disease, and to improve our understanding of its pathogenesis.

Keywords: Astrocyte; Non-astrocyte; Spinal cord injury; Repair mechanism; Dysfunction module; Module genes

Core tip: The present study uncovered a co-expression network of key genes involved in astrocyte and non-astrocyte regulation in spinal cord injury. These findings helped to reveal the core dysfunction modules, potential regulatory factors and driving genes of the disease, and to improve our understanding of its pathogenesis.