Identification of key gene contributing to vitiligo by immune infiltration.

backgroundA deeper understanding of new prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers for vitiligo, an autoimmune disease, is needed. The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and immune infiltration related to the cause of vitiligo.

methodsThe microarray data (GSE75819) were available to be downloaded from NCBI-GEO. Eight hub genes were identified from the Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network by the dissection of differentially expressed genes (DEG), Kyoto Gene and Genomic Encyclopedia (KEGG) expansion pathway, and Gene Ontology (GO). Further analysis based on the immune infiltration as well as the correlation between DEGs and immune cells was performed. Our conclusions were verified by using the GSE534 eventually.

resultsAccording to our analysis, we obtained a total of 666 DEGs and 8 hub genes that include ECT2, CCT8, VRK1, UQCRH, EBNA1BP2, CRY2, IFIH1, and BCCIP, which may play an important role in vitiligo. Moreover, the immune infiltration profiles varied significantly between normal and vitiligo tissues. Compared with normal tissues, vitiligo tissues contained a greater proportion of mast cells (P<0.05). The analysis revealed that T cells regulatory (Tregs) have a negative correlation with the VRK1 expression (R=-0:77, P<0.001), whereas the mast cells resting have a positive correlation with the VRK1 expression (R=0:72, P<0.001) in vitiligo.

conclusionThe gene expression profile of vitiligo was realized by a bioinformatics method. The expressions of 8 hub genes and 22 immune cells were found, as the same as CRY2 and VRK1 have a special correlation with immune cells, which may be a significant cause of the pathogenesis of vitiligo. This provides a new idea for the diagnosis and treatment of vitiligo.