Comparison of gene expression profiles and related pathways in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

Int J Mol Med. 2014 Feb;33(2):277-300. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2013.1582. Epub 2013 Dec 10.

Abstract

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is one of the main causes of severe pulmonary hypertension. However, despite treatment (pulmonary endarterectomy), in approximately 15-20% of patients, pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure continue to increase. To date, little is known about the changes that occur in gene expression in CTEPH. The identification of genes associated with CTEPH may provide insight into the pathogenesis of CTEPH and may aid in diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we analyzed the gene expresion profiles of pulmonary artery endothelial cells from 5 patients with CTEPH and 5 healthy controls using oligonucleotide microarrays. Bioinformatics analyses using the Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG databases were carried out to identify the genes and pathways specifically associated with CTEPH. Signal transduction networks were established to identify the core genes regulating the progression of CTEPH. A number of genes were found to be differentially expressed in the pulmonary artery endothelial cells from patients with CTEPH. In total, 412 GO terms and 113 pathways were found to be associated with our list of genes. All differential gene interactions in the Signal-Net network were analyzed. JAK3, GNA15, MAPK13, ARRB2 and F2R were the most significantly altered. Bioinformatics analysis may help gather and analyze large amounts of data in microarrays by means of rigorous experimental planning, scientific statistical analysis and the collection of complete data. In this study, a novel differential gene expression pattern was constructed. However, further studies are required to identify novel targets for the diagnosis and treatment of CTEPH.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Chronic Disease
  • Computational Biology
  • Endothelial Cells / metabolism
  • Female
  • GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11 / genetics
  • GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11 / metabolism
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / diagnosis*
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / genetics*
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / pathology
  • Janus Kinase 3 / genetics
  • Janus Kinase 3 / metabolism
  • Lung / drug effects
  • Lung / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 13 / genetics
  • Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 13 / metabolism
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Signal Transduction
  • Transcriptome*
  • Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / genetics
  • Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / metabolism
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1
  • Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 13
  • JAK3 protein, human
  • Janus Kinase 3
  • G protein alpha 16
  • GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11