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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mol. Biosci.
Sec. Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Volume 11 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1332842
This article is part of the Research Topic Novel Approaches to Targeting the Vasculature and Metabolome to Prevent Brain Aging and Related Diseases View all 6 articles
Identification and Mechanistic Analysis of Neurovascular Coupling Related Biomarkers for Diabetic macular edema
Provisionally accepted
Tianpeng Chen
1,2
Shufan Sheng
2
Jing Chen
2*
Xiaole Wang
2*
Yanxing Shang
2
Chengwei Duan
2*
Caixia Liang
2*
Yu Song
2*
Dongmei Zhang
2*- 1 Nantong First People’s Hospital, Nantong, China
- 2 Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a major cause of vision loss in the sick with diabetic retinopathy. The occurrence of DME is closely related to the breakdown of neurovascular coupling; however, its underlying mechanism has not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic biomarkers and potential molecular mechanisms associated with neurovascular coupling in DME. Using differential gene expression analysis, STEM, and WGCNA from GSE160306, Neurotrophic factor receptor (NGFR) was identified as a hub gene related to neurovascular coupling and DME. The expression of NGFR was verified by RT-qPCR in vitro cells. GSEA analysis indicated that high expression of NGFR may affect immunity and inflammatory pathway, thereby regulating neurovascular coupling and mediating the development of DME. The NGFR co-expression network was constructed, which exhibited the correlation with the neurotrophin signaling pathway. Moreover, a diagnostic model for DME based on NGFR and PREX1 was constructed using LASSO regression analysis and nomogram, which were validated through AUC values and the C-index, demonstrating relatively good diagnostic performance. To briefly conclude, the high expression of NGFR may lead to abnormal neurovascular coupling and participate in the occurrence of DME by regulating the immunity, inflammatory and neurotrophin signaling pathway. Detection of NGFR and related expression genes may be beneficial for monitoring the occurrence and development of DME.
Keywords: diabetic macular edema, Diabetic Retinopathy, neurodegeneration, neurovascular coupling, Bioinformatic analysis
Received: 03 Nov 2023; Accepted: 29 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Sheng, Chen, Wang, Shang, Duan, Liang, Song and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jing Chen, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
Xiaole Wang, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
Chengwei Duan, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
Caixia Liang, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
Yu Song, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
Dongmei Zhang, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
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