Abstract
The interaction between the bone and immune systems has a major role in
osteoporosis regulation. However, the infiltration of T helper 17 (Th17) cells
and their associated genes in osteoporosis remains unclear. The GSE35959 dataset
was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and the Immune
Cell Abundance Identifier (ImmuCellAI) program was used to evaluate the
abundance of 24 immune cell types, including Th17 cells. Differential analysis
and relevance analysis were performed to identify differentially expressed Th17
cell-related genes (DETh17RGs) in osteoporosis. The potential functions of
DETh17RGs were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes
and Genomes (KEGG) pathways enrichment. Hub DETh17RGs were obtained through
comprehensive analysis using Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis
(WGCNA) and the CytoHubba plug-in algorithm. The expression levels of hub genes
were validated using additional osteoporosis datasets. Additionally, the
transcript levels of Hub genes in a mice model of osteoporosis were examined
using quantitative PCR (qPCR). 464 DETh17RGs were identified in this study, with
421 genes showing positive associations and 43 genes showing negative
associations. Among these, seven genes (CD44, TGFB1, ACTN4, ARHGDIA, ESR1, TLN1,
FLNA) were considered as Hub DETh17RGs. The qPCR transcript levels of hub
DETh17RGs in a mice model of osteoporosis exhibited consistent expression trends
with the bioinformatics analysis. This research enhances our understanding of
the molecular mechanisms involving Th17 cells in the development of osteoporosis
and contributes to the discovery of potential biomarkers.
Key words
osteoporosis - Th17 cell - immune - bioinformatic analysis
