Integrative Analysis of Key Candidate Genes and Signaling Pathways in Acute Coronary Syndrome Related to Obstructive Sleep Apnea by bioinformatics

Background: Although obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been clinically reported to be associated with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), the pathogenesis between the two is unclear. Herein, we analyzed and screened out the prospective molecular marker. Methods: To explore the candidate genes, as well as signaling cascades involved in ACS related to OSA, we extracted the integrated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the intersection of genes from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohorts and text mining, followed by enrichment of the matching cell signal cascade through DAVID analysis. Moreover, the MCODE of Cytoscape software was employed to uncover the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and the matching hub gene. Results: A total of 17 and 43 integrated human DEGs in unstable Angina (UA) and myocardial infarction (MI) group associated with OSAs were uncovered, respectively, that met the criteria of |log2 fold change (FC)| ≥1, adjusted P <0.01. After PPI network construction, the top five hub genes associated with UA were extracted, including APP, MAPK3, MMP9, CD40 and CD40LG, whereas those associated with MI were PPARG, MAPK1, MMP9, AGT, and TGFB1. Conclusions: The establishment of the above-mentioned candidate key genes, as well as the enriched signaling cascades provides promising molecular marker for OSA-related ACS, which may help the diagnosis and treatment of ACS patients in the future.