Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39869603›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Identification and validation of key autophagy-related genes in lupus nephritis by bioinformatics and machine learning.

Su Zhang, Weitao Hu, Yelin Tang, Xiaoqing Chen

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Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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4citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Su ZhangDepartment of Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, P.R. China.
Weitao HuDepartment of Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, P.R. China.
Yelin TangGeneral Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, P.R. China.
Xiaoqing ChenDepartment of Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, P.R. China.ORCID 0000-0002-4133-9751

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionLupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most frequent and serious organic manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Autophagy, a new form of programmed cell death, has been implicated in a variety of renal diseases, but the relationship between autophagy and LN remains unelucidated.

methodsWe analyzed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in kidney tissues from 14 LN patients and 7 normal controls using the GSE112943 dataset. Key modules and their contained genes were identified utilizing weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Differentially expressed autophagy-related genes (DE-ARGs) among DEGs, key module genes and autophagy-related genes (ARGs) were obtained by venn plot, and subjected to protein-protein interaction network construction. Two machine learning methods were applied to identify signature genes. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves was used to assess the accuracy of the signature genes. We also analyzed immune cell infiltration in LN. Additionally, the association between key genes and kidney diseases was predicted. Finally, key genes expression in kidney was verified by clinical samples and animal experiments.

resultsA total of 10304 DEGs were identified in GSE1129943 and 29 modules were identified in WGCNA. Among them, the brown module and coral 2 module exhibited significant correlation with LN (cor = 0.86, -0.84, p<0.001). Machine learning techniques identified 5 signature genes, but only 2 were validated in the external dataset GSE32591, namely MAP1LC3B (AUC = 0.920) and TNFSF10 (AUC = 0.937), which are involved in autophagy and apoptosis. Immune infiltration analysis suggested that these key genes may be associated with immune cell infiltration in LN. In addition, these genes have been linked to a variety of renal diseases, and their expression was verified in kidney tissues in LN patients and lupus mice.

conclusionMAP1LC3B and TNFSF10 may be key autophagy-related genes in LN. These key genes have the potential to provide new insights into the molecular diagnosis and treatment of LN.

Indexed as

AutophagyComputational BiologyLupus NephritisMachine LearningAnimalsFemaleGene Expression ProfilingGene Regulatory NetworksHumansKidneyMiceProtein Interaction MapsTranscriptome

Identifiers

PMID39869603
PMCPMC11771862

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