Identification of Specific Gene Modules in Mouse Lung Tissue Exposed to Cigarette Smoke

Background: Exposure to cigarette may affect human health and increase risk of a wide range of diseasesincluding pulmonary diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, lung fibrosis andlung cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis induced by cigarettes still remain obscure evenwith extensive studies. With systemic view, we attempted to identify the specific gene modules that might relateto injury caused by cigarette smoke and identify hub genes for potential therapeutic targets or biomarkers fromspecific gene modules. Materials and
Methods: The dataset GSE18344 was downloaded from the Gene ExpressionOmnibus (GEO) and divided into mouse cigarette smoke exposure and control groups. Subsequently, weightedgene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to construct a gene co-expression network for eachgroup and detected specific gene modules of cigarette smoke exposure by comparison.
Results: A total of tenspecific gene modules were identified only in the cigarette smoke exposure group but not in the control group.Seven hub genes were identified as well, including Fip1l1, Anp32a, Acsl4, Evl, Sdc1, Arap3 and Cd52.
Conclusions:Specific gene modules may provide better understanding of molecular mechanisms, and hub genes are potentialcandidates of therapeutic targets that may possible improve development of novel treatment approaches.