title: Strong correlation between ASPM gene expression and HCV cirrhosis progression identified by co-expression analysis.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) cirrhosis is at a high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its progression is influenced by a complex network of gene interactions. A weighted gene co-expression network was constructed to identify gene modules associated with the seven-stage disease progression from HCV cirrhosis to HCV-related HCC (n=65). In the significant module (R2=0.86), a total of 25 network hub genes were identified, half of which were also hub nodes in the protein-protein interaction network of the module genes. In validation, most hub genes showed a moderate correlation with the disease progression, and only ASPM was highly correlated (R2=0.801). In the test set (n=63), ASPM was also more highly expressed in HCV cirrhosis with concomitant HCC than in those without HCC (P=0.0054). Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) demonstrated that the gene set of "regulation of protein amino acid phosphorylation" (n=20) was enriched in HCV cirrhosis samples with ASPM highly expressed (false discovery rate (FDR)=0.049). In gene ontology (GO) analysis, genes in the enriched set were associated with liver neoplasms and other neoplastic diseases. In conclusion, through co-expression analysis, ASPM was identified and validated in association with the progression of HCV cirrhosis probably by regulating tumor-related phosphorylation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: liujing81@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Clinical Center & Key Lab of Intestinal & Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: zhaoqiuwhu@163.com.
authors.forename: Qiu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002681:China; D018450:Disease Progression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D016174:Hepacivirus; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C467202:ASPM protein, human; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins
keywords: ASPM; Co-expression analysis; Disease progression; Hepatitis C virus cirrhosis