Integrative analysis reveals key mRNA and long non-coding RNA interaction in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension

INTRODUCTION: Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a rare and sporadic form of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), characterized by elevated pulmonary arterial resistance leading to right heart failure. However, molecular mechanisms of PAH development are still not completely understood. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, we aimed to uncover key mRNAs and long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs), functional modules and pathways. Moreover, to detect the dysregulated pathway or biological function, we performed Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. PPI and co-expression networks were constructed to reveal the potential roles of PAH-related mRNAs and lncRNAs. RESULTS: A total of 3,134 genes, including 945 up-regulated and 2,189 down-regulated genes, were identified to be differentially expressed in IPAH by differential expression analysis. We identified T cell differentiation and the T cell receptor signaling pathway as up-regulated in IPAH by using GO and KEGG analysis. Based on the PPI module analysis, we identified that the pro-inflammatory genes, such as OAS1, CXCL10, STAT1 and TLR4, were the hub genes in the PPI modules. To link the lncRNAs to the PPI modules, we calculated the Spearman correlation coefficient for lncRNA-DE-mRNA pairs to identify the modules with high correlation with each lncRNA. CONCLUSIONS: Notably, 6 of these lncRNAs were associated with modules characterized by the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway and chemokine signaling pathway, suggesting that these lncRNAs may promote the occurrence of IPAH via participating in the pro-inflammatory pathways. In conclusion, our systematic analysis not only improved our understanding of the molecular mechanism, but also provided potential lncRNA biomarkers for further research.