Investigation of Potential Immune Regulators of Bordetella Pertussis Infection through WGCNA Analysis

Abstract

Background: Pertussis is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. Over the past decade, the rising incidence of pertussis in many countries, including China, has attracted great attention globally. Methods: Current research focuses on the underlying immune mechanisms of cells in response to pertussis infection and to perform a further analysis and interpretation. A sequencing dataset of human airway epithelium cells infected with B. pertussis was collected from the GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) database, and transcriptome analysis was subsequently performed. Results: After analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), a total of 149 DEGs were obtained, including 109 down-regulated genes and 40 up-regulated genes. Most were enriched in antigen processing and presentation, endocytosis, toxoplasmosis, and natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity. WGCNA (weighted correlation network analysis) was also performed and the genes were grouped into different modules as per the corresponding expression trends, among which the yellow, purple and royalblue gene modules indicated a positive correlation with the grouping. Further enrichment analysis and PPI (protein-protein interaction) analysis of the DEGs in the yellow module indicated that CD74, CD274, PDCD1LG2, integrin subunit alpha M (ITGAM) and PTPN22 played a role in the infected cells by B. pertussis. Conclusions: This study collected pertussis sequencing datasets using the GEO database, and analyzed the underlying immune mechanism of pertussis-infected cells, and provided a theoretical basis for mining potential regulatory factors and improving the immune efficacy of vaccines.