The Identification of Key Genes and Biological Pathways in Cardiac Arrest by Integrated Bioinformatics and Next Generation Sequencing Data Analysis

Cardiac arrest (CA) is a common cause of death world wide. The disease has lacks effective treatment. Efforts have been made to elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of CA, but the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. To identify key genes and pathways in CA, the next generation sequencing (NGS) GSE200117 dataset was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. DESeq2 tool was used to recognize differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene ontology (GO) and REACTOME pathway enrichment analyses were performed to analyze the DEGs and associated signal pathways in the g:Profiler database. The IID database was used to construct the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and modules analysis was performed using Cytoscape. A miRNA-hub gene regulatory network and TF-hub gene regulatory network were then constructed to screen miRNAs, TFs and hub genes by miRNet and NetworkAnalyst database and Cityscape software. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis used to verified the hub genes. In total, 844 DEGs were identified, comprising 414 up regulated genes and 430 down regulated genes. GO and REACTOME pathway enrichment analyses indicated that the DEGs for CA were mainly enriched in organonitrogen compound metabolic process, response to stimulus, translation and immune system. Ten hub genes (up-regulated: HSPA8, HOXA1, INCA1 and TP53; down-regulated: HSPB1, LMNA, SNCA, ADAMTSL4 and PDLIM7) were screened. We also predicted miRNAs (hsa-mir-1914-5p and hsa-mir-598-3p) and TFs (JUN and PRRX2) targeting hub genes. This study uses a series of bioinformatics technologies to obtain hug genes, miRNAs and TFs, and key pathways related to CA. These analysis results provide us with new ideas for finding biomarkers and treatment methods for CA.