The ubiquitin-proteasome activity of macrophages involved in the rupture of atherosclerotic plaque based on bioinformatics analysis

Background Macrophages have been demonstrated to promote the rupture of the atherosclerotic lesion, a primary cause of ischemic events, by modulating the formation of plaque necrosis. We aimed to search the key factors of genetic macrophages in concerns of carotid ruptured plaques.Methods The database of the gene expressed GSE41571 is retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to differentially obtain the measured expression genes (DEGs) by tendering the tool usage of GEO2R. The enriched pathways of ontology at DEGs performances with DAVID interacted the constructions of protein to protein networking by the analysis of STRING and Cytoscape software. And also the identified PPI networks in the significance of hub genes module plugged into respective Cytohubba and MCODE Cytoscape.Result A total of 1481 DEGs in macrophages from ruptured and stable carotid atherosclerotic plaques are noticed, by including 568 up-regulation genes and 913 down-regulation genes. The analyzed GO shows a DEGs are mainly involved in protein ubiquitination, endocytosis, mRNA processing, and mitotic cell cycle. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that some major protein catabolism pathways, including the ubiquitin-proteasome, autophagy, and endocytosis systems, play key roles in the progressive carotid plaque clotting. The genes of the hub in the PPI network included POLR2E , PPP2R1A , HSP90AA1 , and CBL . The modules were mainly associated with ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, endocytosis, spliceosome, proteasome.Conclusion Our findings offer novel molecular insights into the mechanisms by which macrophages drive formation and vulnerability of plaques. The candidate DEGs and potential biological pathways might be used as diagnostic targets, and facilitate the development of novel macrophage-targeting therapies for unstable atherosclerosis.