Analysis of Key Genes for Slow Transit Constipation Based on RNA Sequencing

Linfeng Yu; Xiuding Yang; Wenlong Guan; Dongxu Zhang; Shuo Ren; Yanwei Xing; Da An; Jian Zhang; Yuekun Zhu; Anlong Zhu

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S380208

Analysis of Key Genes for Slow Transit Constipation Based on RNA Sequencing

Int J Gen Med. 2022 Sep 28:15:7569-7579. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S380208. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Linfeng Yu^#¹, Xiuding Yang^#¹, Wenlong Guan¹, Dongxu Zhang¹, Shuo Ren², Yanwei Xing¹, Da An³, Jian Zhang¹, Yuekun Zhu¹, Anlong Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to identify key genes in slow transit constipation (STC). We also sought to explore the potential link between STC and colorectal cancer.

Patients and methods: mRNA expression profiles were obtained by RNA sequencing, and differentially expressed genes were identified. Functional enrichment analysis and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was explored, and differentially expressed genes common to STC and colorectal cancer were examined. Analysis of the effect of constipation and colorectal cancer common genes on the overall survival of colorectal cancer patients based on GEPIA database.

Results: Functional enrichment showed that significantly different genes are related to lymphocyte chemotaxis, positive regulation of inflammatory response, cellular response to tumor necrosis factor, extracellular region, extracellular space and chemokine activity. The hub gene for STC was found in the PPI network. In addition, AQP8 and CFD were common differential genes for STC and colorectal cancer. AQP8 affects overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer.

Conclusion: Our findings will contribute to understanding the pathology of STC at the molecular level, with the first discovery that AQP8 may be a hub gene in the transition from STC to colorectal cancer.

Keywords: AQP8; RNA sequencing; colorectal cancer; hub genes; slow transit constipation.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the University Nursing Program for Young Scholars with Creative Talents in Heilongjiang Province (No. 31011180065), the fund for scientific research from Pfizer, China (No. WI216584) and Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China (YQ2019H018).