| Objective To identify the key genes associated with immune efficacy in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma(MPM) and the likely mechansim.Methods The expression profile of GSE117358 obtained from GEO database was analyzed from July 2018 to July 2020. Firstly, according to the response to immunotherapy, patients were assigned into response group and non-responsegroup. Meanwhile, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened. Secondly, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia ofgenes and genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed to analyze the differences in biological behavior and enrichment signaling pathways between the two groups. Finally, protein-protein interaction network (PPI) was constructed, and then the important modules andkey genes in biological behavior were screened. In addition, the key genes were analyzed and verified in the TCGA database.Results In total, 1 025 DEGs were screened between the response group (12 samples) and the non-response group (12 samples). There were 782 up-regulated and 243 down-regulated genes in the response group in comparison with the non-response group. GO and KEGG analysisresults showed that the functions of these DEGs focused mainly on the cytokine receptor pathway, cell adhesion pathway, T cell receptor pathway and NF-kappa B signaling pathway. In the PPI analysis, the top 10 core genes (Tnf, Il6, Ptprc, Csf2, Cd86, Cxcl9, Sell, Cxcr3, Ccl2, Cd40) with high node degree were screened. TCGA database integration analysis results showed that the expressions of Tnf,Il6, Cd86, Cxcl9, Sell, Cxcr3 and Cd40 genes were higher in the subtype of sarcomatoid mesothelioma than those in other subtypes withstatistically significant difference.Conclusion The core genes Tnf, Il6, Ptprc, Csf2, Cd86, Cxcl9, Sell, Cxcr3, Ccl2, Cd40 in these important modules might become novel predictive markers for immunotherapy and potential therapeutic targets in MPM. |
