Objective: Based on GEO database and bioinformatics to screen silicosis-related differentially expressed genes and analyze the biological functions, in order to provide new ideas and methods for the treatment of silicosis fibrosis.
Methods: We predicted microRNAs related to silicosis through bioinformatics and verified the expression of microRNAs in patients with silicosis and healthy people by Real-time Fluorescence Quantitative PCR.
Results: Three key genes (LCN2, MMP9, and CCL2) were identified, with hsa-miR-4651, hsa-miR-608, and hsa-miR-3151-5p predicted as their regulatory miRNAs. Hsa-miR-4651 and hsa-miR-608 were significantly upregulated in silicosis patient plasma, indicating their potential as biomarkers for silicosis diagnosis.
Conclusions: Hsa-miR-4651 and hsa-miR-608 were identified as potential novel biomarkers for silicosis diagnosis, offering new insights for clinical diagnosis and treatment of silicosis fibrosis.
Keywords: Silicosis; bioinformatics; biomarker; microRNA; pulmonary.