Integrative bioinformatics approaches to map key biological markers and therapeutic drugs in Extramammary Paget’s disease of the scrotum

Abstract

Extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD) is an intra-epidermal adenocarcinoma. Till now, the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of scrotal EMPD is poorly known. This present study aims to explore the knowledge of molecular mechanism of scrotal EMPD by identifying the hub genes and candidate drugs using integrated bioinformatics approaches. Firstly, the microarray datasets (GSE117285) were downloaded from the GEO database and then analyzed using GEO2R in order to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Moreover, hub genes were identified on the basis of their degree of connectivity using Cytohubba plugin of cytoscape tool. Finally, GEPIA and DGIdb were used for the survival analysis and selection of therapeutic candidates, respectively. A total of 786 DEGs were identified, of which 10 genes were considered as hub genes on the basis of the highest degree of connectivity. After the survival analysis of ten hub genes, a total of 5 genes were found to be altered in EMPD patients. Furthermore, 14 drugs of CHEK1, CCNA2, and CDK1 were found to have therapeutic potential against EMPD. This study updates the information and yields a new perspective in the context of understanding the pathogenesis of EMPD. In future, hub genes and candidate drugs might be capable of improving the personalized detection and therapies for EMPD.