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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1538888
This article is part of the Research Topic Enhancing Research on Drug Small Molecules and Target Proteins for the Treatment of Genetic Diseases View all articles
Evaluating the Role of Astragalus Polysaccharide in Modulating Immune Infiltration and Enhancing Prognostic Biomarkers in Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Provisionally accepted- 1 Shanxi Provincial Children's Hospital, Taiyuan, China
- 2 Department of Hematology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- 3 Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, United States
- 4 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking University First Hospital Taiyuan Hospital (Taiyuan Central Hospital), Taiyuan, China
Background: Childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) constitutes a significant proportion of pediatric malignancies, with current treatment options remaining limited. This study aimed to investigate the role of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) in immune infiltration and prognosis of pediatric AML. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from the GEO database (dataset GSE2191), and APS-related genes (APSRGs) were obtained from the Swiss Target Prediction platform. DEGs with |logFC| > 1 and p < 0.05 were intersected with APSRGs to identify APS-related differentially expressed genes (APSRDEGs), visualized using a Venn diagram. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis was conducted to identify hub genes. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed to determine biological processes (BP), cellular components (CC), molecular functions (MF), and relevant pathways associated with the hub genes. Correlation analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and immune infiltration analysis were conducted to assess the relationship between hub genes and pediatric AML. Results: The GSE2191 dataset was divided into pediatric AML (PAML) and control groups. A total of 1,881 DEGs were identified, of which 20 were APSRDEGs. PPI network analysis revealed that 13 APSRDEGs were interconnected, and nine hub genes were identified: CASP3, PTPRC, ELANE, HMOX1, CHUK, FLT1, JAK3, CTSL, and AURKA. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that these genes were significantly associated with key biological processes, cellular components, molecular functions, and pathways involved in AML. ROC curve analysis revealed that the expression levels of the nine hub genes differed significantly between the PAML and control groups. Immune infiltration analysis demonstrated a strong correlation between several hub genes and immune cells, with HMOX1 showing the strongest positive correlation with neutrophils. Conclusion: This study identified nine hub genes related to APS in pediatric AML. These findings suggest that APS may significantly affect immune infiltration and prognosis in pediatric AML, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic modulator for the disease.
Keywords: APS, Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (PAML), GEO database, PPI Network, GO/KEGG, immune infiltration analysis, prognostic biomarker
Received: 03 Dec 2024; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Zhang, Zhang, Pan and Yang. 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:
Chao Yang, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking University First Hospital Taiyuan Hospital (Taiyuan Central Hospital), Taiyuan, China
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