AUTHOR=Wu Chutian , Zhou Yun , Wang Min , Dai Guolin , Liu Xiongxiu , Lai Leizhen , Tang Shaohui 

TITLE=Bioinformatics Analysis Explores Potential Hub Genes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.772487

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2021.772487

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now recognized as the most prevalent chronic liver disease worldwide. However, the dysregulated gene expression for NAFLD is still poorly understood.</p><p><bold>Material and methods:</bold> We analyzed two public datasets (GSE48452 and GSE89632) to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in NAFLD. Then, we performed a series of bioinformatics analyses to explore potential hub genes in NAFLD.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> This study included 26 simple steatosis (SS), 34 nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and 13 healthy controls (HC). We observed 6 up- and 19 down-regulated genes in SS, and 13 up- and 19 down-regulated genes in NASH compared with HC. Meanwhile, the overlapping pathways between SS and NASH were PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and pathways in cancer. Then, we screened out 10 hub genes by weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Eventually, we found that <italic>CYP7A1</italic>/<italic>GINS2</italic>/<italic>PDLIM3</italic> were associated with the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the TCGA database.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Although further validation is still needed, we provide useful and novel information to explore the potential candidate genes for NAFLD prognosis and therapeutic options.</p>