Introducing Critical Pain-related Genes: A System Biology Approach

INTRODUCTION: Pain is valuable in diagnosis and also warning of the patients. Many molecular reagents are introduced which are related to pain. In this research, the pain-related genes are screened to identify the critical ones. METHODS: First, the pain-related genes were pulling out from the STRING database, and Cytoscape software was used to make the interactome unit. Then the central genes and their neighbors were analyzed. Finally, the genes were clustered, and the essential genes were introduced. RESULTS: After analyzing 159 genes of the network, FOS, IL6, TNF, TAC1, IL8, and KNG1 were identified as the essential genes. Further analysis revealed that 88 genes are directly connected to the central genes. More resolution led to ignoring TNF and IL8 and considering SCN-alpha and PAICS as additional critical nodes. CONCLUSION: Six critical genes related to pain were identified. They can be potentially considered as new drug targets. Further investigation is required to introduce the central genes as a pain killer.