title: Identification of specific gene modules in mouse lung tissue exposed to cigarette smoke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to cigarette may affect human health and increase risk of a wide range of diseases including pulmonary diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, lung fibrosis and lung cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis induced by cigarettes still remain obscure even with extensive studies. With systemic view, we attempted to identify the specific gene modules that might relate to injury caused by cigarette smoke and identify hub genes for potential therapeutic targets or biomarkers from specific gene modules.
  
  
  METHODS
  The dataset GSE18344 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and divided into mouse cigarette smoke exposure and control groups. Subsequently, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to construct a gene co-expression network for each group and detected specific gene modules of cigarette smoke exposure by comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of ten specific gene modules were identified only in the cigarette smoke exposure group but not in the control group. Seven hub genes were identified as well, including Fip1l1, Anp32a, Acsl4, Evl, Sdc1, Arap3 and Cd52.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specific gene modules may provide better understanding of molecular mechanisms, and hub genes are potential candidates of therapeutic targets that may possible improve development of novel treatment approaches.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Lab of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine of Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China E-mail : Ai_min_meng@126.com.
authors.forename: Yong-Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Jun-Ling
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: De-Guan
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yue-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Cheng-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhu-Bo
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jian-Guo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Guo-Shun
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Ai-Min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D066264:Datasets as Topic; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D063990:Gene Ontology; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012906:Smoke / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012907:Smoking / Q000235:genetics*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D012906:Smoke