Identification of Hub Genes and Key Pathways of Paraquat Induced Human Embryonic Pulmonary Fibrosis by Bioinformatics Analysis and Vitro Experiments

Background: Paraquat is highly toxic pesticide, which usually led to acute lung injury and subsequently develop pulmonary fibrosis, the exact mechanisms of PQ-induced lung fibrosis remain largely unclear and no specific drugs for this disease have been approved. Methods: : Our study aimed to identify its potential mechanism though modeling study in vitro and bioinformatics analysis. Gene expression datasets associated with PQ-induced lung fibrosis were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using GEO2R. Functional enrichment analyses were performed using the Database for Annotation. Results: : The DEGs in the two datasets, of which 92 overlapping genes were found in two microarray datasets. Functional analysis demonstrated that the 92 DEGs were enriched in the ‘TNF signaling pathway’, ‘CXCR chemokine receptor binding’, and ‘core promoter binding’. Moreover, nine hub genes were identified from a protein‑protein interaction network. Conclusions: : This integrative analysis firstly identified candidate genes and pathways in PQ-induced lung fibrosis, as well as benefit to research novel approaches for treating for control of PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis.