Analysis of hub genes and immune cells in the co-pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome and thyroid cancer based on bioinformatics

OBJECTIVE Analyzed the hub genes and immune cells involved in the co-pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome and thyroid cancer by bioinformatics methods.METHODS The data of Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer were downloaded from GEO database, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer were analyzed by R software, enrichment analysis of common DEGs was performed, common hub genes of Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer were identified by using STRING database and Cytoscape software, and hub genes were verified by external datasets. Immune infiltration analysis was further performed to screen the common key immune cells of Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer, and to analyze the relationship between the key immune cells and the hub genes. The NetworkAnalyst database was used to screen miRNAs and regulatory factors associated with the hub genes, and the Drug Signature Database (DSigDB) was used to screen drugs and drug targets associated with the hub genes.RESULTS The Sjögren's syndrome dataset screened 979 up-regulated genes and 761 down-regulated genes, and the hyroid cancer dataset screened 481 up-regulated genes and 423 down-regulated genes, and 93 co-expression DEGs were obtained after taking the intersection, including 73 up-regulated genes and 20 down-regulated genes. The hub gene CXCL10 was screened using three algorithms in Cytoscape's CytosHubba plug-in and verified by the dataset, and its area under the curve (AUC) in both Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer was >0.7. Immune cell infiltration analysis showed that neutrophils were significantly up-regulated in both Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer, and were significantly positively correlated with CXCL10. Thirty-one target miRNAs and six regulators associated with the hub gene CXCL10 were screened from the NetworkAnalyst database, and the top 10 potential therapeutic agents and targets for CXCL10-related diseases were screened from DSigDB.CONCLUSION CXCL10 is the hub gene in the co-pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer, and neutrophils have increased immune infiltration in Sjögren's syndrome and hyroid cancer and positively correlate with the CXCL10 gene as key immune cells.