Identification Of Key Genes Associated With The Outcome Of Sepsis Via Co-expression Network Analysis

Objective:To identify hub genes associated with the outcome of sepsis in blood using bioinformatics methods.Methods:The microarray data of whole blood in sepsis patients was obtained from GSE54514 which was delivered on gene expression omnibus(GEO)database.We utilized several packages in R software to analyze the differentially expressed genes(DEGs)and constructed co-expression network to identify key modules associated with the outcome of sepsis.Then gene functional enrichment analysis was performed to figure out the possible behavior of genes in the most significant module.Hub genes were selected from the most significant module according to module membership and degree of protein-protein interaction network.Results:A total of 622 DEGs identified from the microarray data of GSE54154 were used to construct co-expression network and then we got 6 modules.The most significant module was identified and functional enrichment analysis revealed that the genes in this module were closely related to myeloid cell and neutrophil activation in GO enrichment and antiviral responses in KEGG pathway enrichment.Conclusion:We identified 15 hub genes greatly associated the outcome of sepsis via bioinformatics methods,and these genes may influence the outcome of sepsis by regulating the response to viral infection.