Identification of Hub Genes Associated with Lung Adenocarcinoma Based on Bioinformatics Analysis

Abstract

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is one of the malignant lung tumors. However, its pathology has not been fully understood. The purpose of this study is to identify the hub genes associated with LUAD by bioinformatics methods. Three gene expression datasets including GSE116959, GSE74706, and GSE85841 downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were used in this study. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to LUAD were screened by using the limma package. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG analysis of DEGs were carried out through the DAVID website. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) of differentially expressed genes was drawn by the STRING website, and the results were imported into Cytoscape for visualization. Then, the PPI network was analyzed by using MCODE, and the modules with a score greater than 5 were found by using cytoHubba. Finally, the GEPIA database and UALCAN database were used to verify and analyze the survival of hub genes. We identified 67 upregulated genes and 277 downregulated genes from three LUAD datasets. The results of GO analysis showed that the downregulated genes were significantly enriched in matrix adhesion and angiogenesis and upregulated differential genes were significantly enriched in cell adhesion and vascular development. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the differential genes of LUAD were significantly enriched in viral carcinogenesis and adhesion spots. The PPI network of differentially expressed genes consists of 269 nodes and 625 interactions. In addition, three modules with scores greater than 5 and seven hub genes, namely, MCM4, BIRC5, CDC20, CDC25C, FOXM1, GTSE1, and RFC4, playing an important role in the PPI network were screened out. In this study, we obtained the hub genes and pathways related to LUAD, revealing the molecular mechanism and pathogenesis of LUAD, which is helpful for the early detection of LUAD and provides a new idea for the treatment of LUAD.