Cuproptosis-related gene signatures and immunological characterization in sepsis- associated acute lung injury

Abstract

Abstract Sepsis is a common cause of acute lung injury (ALI), often accompanied by immune disorders and a high mortality rate. Cuproptosis is a recently discovered form of cell death that participates in the progression of various diseases. There is no information on the role of cuproptosis in sepsis-associated ALI. Data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were used for a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptional changes and role of cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) in sepsis-associated ALI. Gene enrichment analysis, the WGCNA and CIBERSORT algorithms, and consensus clustering were used to explore the relationships between CRGs and immune cells, as well as the underlying mechanisms. We found that fourteen CRGs that showed significant differences in expression between sepsis-associated ALI and healthy controls. Two different CRG subtypes were identified. The scores of the CRG and gene clusters were consistent, and the expression of immune-related factors in the two clusters was similar. Infiltration of immune cells differed between the subgroups, indicating an association between the subgroups and immune cell. A CRG-scoring model was constructed, and was effective in predicting the incidence of sepsis-associated ALI through the expression of CRGs. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the expression of CRGs in the sepsis-associated ALI cell model was similar to that seen in CRG cluster B. CRGs were found to be significantly associated with the occurrence, immune characteristics, and biological processes of sepsis-associated ALI. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying sepsis-associated ALI.