Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes Associated with Lymph Node Tuberculosis by the Bioinformatic Analysis Based on a Microarray.

To identify candidate key genes and pathways associated with lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) and reveal the potential molecular mechanisms of LNTB development. Gene expression profile of GSE63548 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichments of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed by DAVID, and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was performed from STRING database. Furthermore, Cytoscape was used to integrate the network of transcription factor (TF) target and miRNA target. A total of 239 DEGs were screened out. Based on the DEGs, a miRNA of hsa-miR-4536 and 28 TFs, such as GATA1, JUND, NR2F1, POU1F1, and RELB, were obtained. Pathway enrichment analyses revealed that DEGs were mainly enriched in the pathways of regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes, vascular smooth muscle contraction, fat digestion and absorption, NOD-like receptor, and TNF signaling pathway. Furthermore, 53 nodes and 241 interactions were identified in the PPI network. In addition, the integrated regulatory network showed that CXCL9, CD36, LEP, ACACB, ALDH1A3, GPX3, STAT1, and LPL were the target genes of hsa-miR-4536. This study revealed the candidate key genes and pathways that are involved in the pathogenesis of LNTB, which will provide potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of LNTB.