Abstract
Purpose :
To analyze the gene expression pattern difference between pterygium fibroblasts and other types of fibroblasts in order to obtain biomarkers useful for translational research purposes.
Methods :
The expression data of 12 samples of primary pterygium fibroblasts and 63 from other types of fibroblasts (colon, breast, duodenum, esophagus, gallbladder, ileum, liver, lung, mammary gland, prostate, stomach, and blood vessels) with the same platform were obtained from GEO database. A list of 16,509 common genes was obtained. The average of difference expression between samples was calculated and a list of 1902 genes with an absolute difference above 0.5 and P value < 0.05 was obtained. An overrepresentation analysis was made to analyze related pathways, gene ontology and transcription factors.
Results :
Among the 1902 different genes, those with higher expression difference were associated lipid metabolism, cytochrome p450, and collagen (FADS1, FGF2, VCAN, KRT5, S100A9, FABP3, FADS2, KRT14, IL6, ELOVL6, CYP1B1, COL5A2, CYP4B1 and FADS3). The over representation analysis showed 1322 genes associated to OCT1 (P = 2.7 e-23), including HGMCR, LDL receptors (LRP1, LRP12, LRP5 and LRP8), and RAS oncogenes (RAB28, RAB33B, RAB5C, RAB8B); 1255 genes were associated to EVI1 (P = 1.1 e-27), including HMGR, RAS oncogenes, and different collagen types (COL4A1, COL4A2, COL5A2, COL8A1); 959 genes were associated to POU3F2 (P = 7.5 e-27), including ELOVL4,ELOVL6, LRP1,LRP12,LRP18; 252 genes were associated to the membrane GO term (P = 8.5 e-9) and 275 genes were associated to the extracellular exosome GO term (P = 5.8 e-4). The pathways with higher amount of related terms were cancer, Pi3K-Akt, and focal adhesion, which showed 62, 57, and 36 genes associated respectively.
Conclusions :
Pterygium fibroblasts are different from other types of fibroblasts in the expression levels of genes associated to lipid metabolism, focal adhesion, and cancer pathways. This information allows setting biomarkers useful for research purposes.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.