Protein-protein interaction network and mechanism analysis in ischemic stroke

Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of mortality and permanent disability, with enormous financial repercussions on health systems worldwide. Ischemic brain injury results from a complex sequence of pathophysiological events that evolve over time. In order to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)-induced ischemic stroke, the GSE35338 affymetrix microarray data was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between samples from patients with MCAO-induced ischemic stroke and sham controls at various time points were identified. Furthermore, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed by mapping the DEGs into PPI data to identify the pathways that these DEGS are involved in. The results revealed that the expression of 438 DEGs, which are mainly involved in cell death, oxidant reduction, cell cycle and cell-cell signaling, were altered in MCAO samples. The nodes of CXC motif chemokine 10 (CXCL10) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were large, with degrees of >20. In conclusion, the results suggest that CXCL10 and IL-6 have important roles in the occurrence and progression of MCAO-induced ischemic stroke.