Identification of Hub Genes And Potential Molecular Mechanisms In Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Patients With Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. The pathogenesis of PD remains elusive, however PD appears to be caused by a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors affecting various biological processes. The purpose of the present study is to identify hub genes and potential molecular mechanisms in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of PD patients to aid early diagnosis and start treatment promptly. Two gene expression profiles (GSE22491 and GSE100054) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, in which 20 PBMC samples from PD patients and 17 controls were included, and the genes were analyzed with GEO2R. 1382 and 512 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in GSE22491 and GSE100054, respectively. Additionally, a total of 80 significant DEGs were found to co-exist in the two microarray datasets via Venn diagram. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed, which showed that the DEGs were mainly enriched in platelet degranulation, blood coagulation, nitric oxide mediated signal transduction, positive regulation of GTPase activity and cellular response to lipopolysaccharide. PPI network, microRNA (miRNA) - hub gene network, and transcription factor (TF)- hub gene network were constructed. In summary, the present study provides data of potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for PD. SRC may be a potential target for the treatment of PD. Additionally, three TFs (HNF4A, CDX2 and FUS), three miRNAs (hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-103a-3p and hsa-miR-107), may be involved in PD.