Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network

The study aimed to clarify the potential immune-related targets and mechanisms of Qingyihuaji Formula (QYHJ) against pancreatic cancer (PC) through network pharmacology and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Active ingredients of herbs in QYHJ were identified by the TCMSP database...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiang Qian, Zhuo Chen, Sha Sha Chen, Lu Ming Liu, Ai Qin Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Journal of Immunology Research
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/7503605
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849414455305175040
author Xiang Qian
Zhuo Chen
Sha Sha Chen
Lu Ming Liu
Ai Qin Zhang
author_facet Xiang Qian
Zhuo Chen
Sha Sha Chen
Lu Ming Liu
Ai Qin Zhang
author_sort Xiang Qian
collection DOAJ
description The study aimed to clarify the potential immune-related targets and mechanisms of Qingyihuaji Formula (QYHJ) against pancreatic cancer (PC) through network pharmacology and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Active ingredients of herbs in QYHJ were identified by the TCMSP database. Then, the putative targets of active ingredients were predicted with SwissTargetPrediction and the STITCH databases. The expression profiles of GSE32676 were downloaded from the GEO database. WGCNA was used to identify the co-expression modules. Besides, the putative targets, immune-related targets, and the critical module genes were mapped with the specific disease to select the overlapped genes (OGEs). Functional enrichment analysis of putative targets and OGEs was conducted. The overall survival (OS) analysis of OGEs was investigated using the Kaplan-Meier plotter. The relative expression and methylation levels of OGEs were detected in UALCAN, human protein atlas (HPA), Oncomine, DiseaseMeth version 2.0 and, MEXPRESS database, respectively. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to elucidate the key pathways of highly-expressed OGEs further. OS analyses found that 12 up-regulated OGEs, including CDK1, PLD1, MET, F2RL1, XDH, NEK2, TOP2A, NQO1, CCND1, PTK6, CTSE, and ERBB2 that could be utilized as potential diagnostic indicators for PC. Further, methylation analyses suggested that the abnormal up-regulation of these OGEs probably resulted from hypomethylation, and GSEA revealed the genes markedly related to cell cycle and proliferation of PC. This study identified CDK1, PLD1, MET, F2RL1, XDH, NEK2, TOP2A, NQO1, CCND1, PTK6, CTSE, and ERBB2 might be used as reliable immune-related biomarkers for prognosis of PC, which may be essential immunotherapies targets of QYHJ.
format Article
id doaj-art-6815b4e7a615408bb7b832739013574a
institution Kabale University
issn 2314-8861
2314-7156
language English
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Journal of Immunology Research
spelling doaj-art-6815b4e7a615408bb7b832739013574a2025-08-20T03:33:50ZengWileyJournal of Immunology Research2314-88612314-71562020-01-01202010.1155/2020/75036057503605Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression NetworkXiang Qian0Zhuo Chen1Sha Sha Chen2Lu Ming Liu3Ai Qin Zhang4Institute of Cancer and Basic Medicine (ICBM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, ChinaInstitute of Cancer and Basic Medicine (ICBM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taizhou Cancer Hospital, Zhejiang, ChinaDepartment of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, ChinaInstitute of Cancer and Basic Medicine (ICBM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, ChinaThe study aimed to clarify the potential immune-related targets and mechanisms of Qingyihuaji Formula (QYHJ) against pancreatic cancer (PC) through network pharmacology and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Active ingredients of herbs in QYHJ were identified by the TCMSP database. Then, the putative targets of active ingredients were predicted with SwissTargetPrediction and the STITCH databases. The expression profiles of GSE32676 were downloaded from the GEO database. WGCNA was used to identify the co-expression modules. Besides, the putative targets, immune-related targets, and the critical module genes were mapped with the specific disease to select the overlapped genes (OGEs). Functional enrichment analysis of putative targets and OGEs was conducted. The overall survival (OS) analysis of OGEs was investigated using the Kaplan-Meier plotter. The relative expression and methylation levels of OGEs were detected in UALCAN, human protein atlas (HPA), Oncomine, DiseaseMeth version 2.0 and, MEXPRESS database, respectively. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to elucidate the key pathways of highly-expressed OGEs further. OS analyses found that 12 up-regulated OGEs, including CDK1, PLD1, MET, F2RL1, XDH, NEK2, TOP2A, NQO1, CCND1, PTK6, CTSE, and ERBB2 that could be utilized as potential diagnostic indicators for PC. Further, methylation analyses suggested that the abnormal up-regulation of these OGEs probably resulted from hypomethylation, and GSEA revealed the genes markedly related to cell cycle and proliferation of PC. This study identified CDK1, PLD1, MET, F2RL1, XDH, NEK2, TOP2A, NQO1, CCND1, PTK6, CTSE, and ERBB2 might be used as reliable immune-related biomarkers for prognosis of PC, which may be essential immunotherapies targets of QYHJ.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/7503605
spellingShingle Xiang Qian
Zhuo Chen
Sha Sha Chen
Lu Ming Liu
Ai Qin Zhang
Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network
Journal of Immunology Research
title Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network
title_full Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network
title_fullStr Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network
title_full_unstemmed Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network
title_short Integrated Analyses Identify Immune-Related Signature Associated with Qingyihuaji Formula for Treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network
title_sort integrated analyses identify immune related signature associated with qingyihuaji formula for treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma using network pharmacology and weighted gene co expression network
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/7503605
work_keys_str_mv AT xiangqian integratedanalysesidentifyimmunerelatedsignatureassociatedwithqingyihuajiformulafortreatmentofpancreaticductaladenocarcinomausingnetworkpharmacologyandweightedgenecoexpressionnetwork
AT zhuochen integratedanalysesidentifyimmunerelatedsignatureassociatedwithqingyihuajiformulafortreatmentofpancreaticductaladenocarcinomausingnetworkpharmacologyandweightedgenecoexpressionnetwork
AT shashachen integratedanalysesidentifyimmunerelatedsignatureassociatedwithqingyihuajiformulafortreatmentofpancreaticductaladenocarcinomausingnetworkpharmacologyandweightedgenecoexpressionnetwork
AT lumingliu integratedanalysesidentifyimmunerelatedsignatureassociatedwithqingyihuajiformulafortreatmentofpancreaticductaladenocarcinomausingnetworkpharmacologyandweightedgenecoexpressionnetwork
AT aiqinzhang integratedanalysesidentifyimmunerelatedsignatureassociatedwithqingyihuajiformulafortreatmentofpancreaticductaladenocarcinomausingnetworkpharmacologyandweightedgenecoexpressionnetwork