Novel insights into the pathogenesis of thyroid eye disease through ferroptosis-related gene signature and immune infiltration analysis

Thyroid eye disease (TED) has brought great physical and mental trauma to patients worldwide. Although a few potential signaling pathways have been reported, knowledge of TED remains limited. Our objective is to explore the fundamental mechanism of TED and identify potential therapeutic targets using diverse approaches. To perform a range of bioinformatic analyses, such as identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs), conducting enrichment analysis, establishing nomograms, analyzing weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA), and studying immune infiltration, the datasets GSE58331, GSE105149, and GSE9340 were integrated. Further validation was conducted using qPCR, western blot, and immunohistochemistry techniques. Eleven ferroptosis-related DEGs derived from the lacrimal gland were originally screened. Their high diagnostic value was proven, and diagnostic prediction nomogram models with high accuracy and robustness were established by using machine learning. A total of 15 hub gene-related DEGs were identified by WGCNA. Through CIBERSORTx, we uncovered five immune cells highly correlated with TED and found several special associations between these immune cells and the above DEGs. Furthermore, EGR2 from the thyroid sample was revealed to be closely negatively correlated with most DEGs from the lacrimal gland. High expression of APOD, COPB2, MYH11, and MYCN, as well as CD4/CD8 T cells and B cells, was verified in the periorbital adipose tissues of TED patients. To summarize, we discovered a new gene signature associated with ferroptosis that has a critical impact on the development of TED and provides valuable insights into immune infiltration. These findings might highlight the new direction and therapeutic strategies of TED.