Transcriptome analysis of immune genes in the peripheral blood in patients with Brucella infection
BAI He-xia1, ZUO Ming-ming1, PAN Xiao-fang1, ZHAO Xin-fang2, HAN Xuan-xue1
1. Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Changji 831100, China; 2. The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China
Abstract:This study aimed to explore the key dysfunctional immune genes and molecular mechanisms of brucellosis by using bioinformatics analysis. Whole blood transcriptome expression data from patients with brucellosis were acquired from GSE69597. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between patients with brucellosis and controls were screened through differential analysis, and immune related gene sets (immune-DEGs) in the DEGs were called with the immport database. Enrichment analysis of immune-DEGs was performed with the enirchr online enrichment tool. To construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of immune-DEGs and identify the highly interconnected core (hub) genes in the network, we used qRT-PCR to verify the expression of the hub genes, and we plotted ROC curves of the hub genes. The scoring of immune cells in patients with brucellosis was evaluated with the ssGSEA algorithm, and the levels of immune cells in blood samples were detected by flow cytometry. A total of 390 immune-DEGs were obtained, and the T cell receptor signaling pathway and Th17 cell differentiation were found in the enrichment results. Among the ten hub genes, IFNG and TNF had significantly higher expression in the Brucella group. The ROC curves indicated a good diagnostic value of IFNG for brucellosis. In addition, activated CD4 T cells, effector CD4 T cells, effector memory CD8 T cells and type 2 T helper cytokines were significantly elevated in patients with Brucella. Flow cytometry analysis identified higher proportions of Th2 and Th17 cells, and lower proportions of Th1 and Treg cells, in the peripheral blood in patients with brucellosis than healthy controls. The results of this study not only improve understanding of the immune response after Brucella infection but also provide directions for the diagnosis and treatment of brucellosis.
白贺霞, 左明明, 盘晓芳, 赵新芳, 韩璇雪. 转录组分析布鲁氏杆菌患者外周血免疫基因的表达情况[J]. 中国人兽共患病学报, 2021, 37(8): 709-714.
BAI He-xia, ZUO Ming-ming, PAN Xiao-fang, ZHAO Xin-fang, HAN Xuan-xue. Transcriptome analysis of immune genes in the peripheral blood in patients with Brucella infection. Chinese Journal of Zoonoses, 2021, 37(8): 709-714.
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