title: Investigation of several biomarkers associated with diabetic nephropathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to facilitate the systematic discovery of diagnostic biomarkers of diabetic nephropathy (DN).
  
  
  METHODS
  3 publicly available independent cohorts were got from Gene Expression Omnibus database. Gene expression array were used to screen for genome-wide relative significance (GWRS) and genome-wide global significance (GWGS). The most significant up- and down-regulated top 100 gene signatures were identified using a fold change based model. Then the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, while the hub genes in this PPI network were identified by centrality analysis. Modules detection was performed to explore the functions of the modules. Meanwhile, gene enrichment analysis was performed to illuminate the biological pathways and processes associated with DN.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most significant up- and down-regulated top 100 gene signatures were identified and a PPI network was established. Several hub genes (VEGFA, IL8, MYC, CD14, ALB) were discovered. Several functional modules were revealed. Biological pathways including cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and p53 signaling pathway, and processes including inflammatory response, response to wounding and enzyme linked receptor protein signaling pathway were identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study displayed underlying biomarkers including biological pathways and several hub genes of DN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province China.
authors.forename: Z S
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province China.
authors.forename: H X
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province China.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province China.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province China.
authors.forename: Z J
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, Shandong Province China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers