Weighted gene co-expression network analysis of microarray mRNA expression profiling in response to electroacupuncture

Afsaneh Mohammadnejad, Shuxia Li, Hongmei Duan, Jesper Lund, Weilong Li, Jan Baumbach, Qihua Tan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been extensively considered as a tool for treating diseases and relieving various pains. However, understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying its effect is of high importance. In this study, we performed a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) on data collected from a microarray experiment to investigate the relationship underlying EA within three factors, time, frequency and tissue regions (periaqueductal gray (PAG) and spinal dorsal horn (DH)) as well as the biological implication of gene expression changes. Gene expression on rats in PAG-DH regions induced by EA with 2 Hz and 100 Hz at 1h and 24h were measured using microarray technology. The WGCNA was performed to identify distinct network modules related to EA effects. To find the biological function of genes and pathways, the gene ontology (GO) Consortium was applied and the gene-gene interaction network of top genes in important modules was visualized. We identified one network module (466 genes) which is significantly associated with time, another module (402 genes) significantly related to frequency, and three modules each consisting of 1144, 402 and 3148 genes that are significantly associated with tissue regions. Furthermore, meaningful biological pathways were enriched in association with each of the experimental factors during EA stimulation. Our analysis showed the robustness of WGCNA and revealed important genes within specific modules and pathways which might be activated in response to EA analgesia. The findings may help to clarify the underlying mechanisms of EA and provide references for future verification of this study.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2018 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine, BIBM 2018
EditorsHarald Schmidt, David Griol, Haiying Wang, Jan Baumbach, Huiru Zheng, Zoraida Callejas, Xiaohua Hu, Julie Dickerson, Le Zhang
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1876-1883
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781538654880
DOIs
StatePublished - 21 Jan 2019
Event2018 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine, BIBM 2018 - Madrid, Spain
Duration: 3 Dec 20186 Dec 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings - 2018 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine, BIBM 2018

Conference

Conference2018 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine, BIBM 2018
Country/TerritorySpain
CityMadrid
Period3/12/186/12/18

Keywords

  • Analgesia
  • electroacupuncture
  • gene Expression profiling
  • hub genes
  • wGCNA

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