Construction of protein interaction network involved in lung adenocarcinomas using a novel algorithm

Studies that only assess differentially-expressed (DE) genes do not contain the information required to investigate the mechanisms of diseases. A complete knowledge of all the direct and indirect interactions between proteins may act as a significant benchmark in the process of forming a comprehensive description of cellular mechanisms and functions. The results of protein interaction network studies are often inconsistent and are based on various methods. In the present study, a combined network was constructed using selected gene pairs, following the conversion and combination of the scores of gene pairs that were obtained across multiple approaches by a novel algorithm. Samples from patients with and without lung adenocarcinoma were compared, and the RankProd package was used to identify DE genes. The empirical Bayesian (EB) meta-analysis approach, the search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes/proteins database (STRING), the weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) package and the differentially-coexpressed genes and links package (DCGL) were used for network construction. A combined network was also constructed with a novel rank-based algorithm using a combined score. The topological features of the 5 networks were analyzed and compared. A total of 941 DE genes were screened. The topological analysis indicated that the gene interaction network constructed using the WGCNA method was more likely to produce a small-world property, which has a small average shortest path length and a large clustering coefficient, whereas the combined network was confirmed to be a scale-free network. Gene pairs that were identified using the novel combined method were mostly enriched in the cell cycle and p53 signaling pathway. The present study provided a novel perspective to the network-based analysis. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Compared with single methods, the combined algorithm used in the present study may provide a novel method to analyze gene interactions, with increased credibility.