Identification of Hub Genes Associated With Clinical Characteristics and Potential Therapy of Diabetic Nephropathy by Bioinformatics Analysis.

Background: To provide molecular markers and potential targeted molecular therapy for diabetic nephropathy by screening hubgenes based on bioinformatic analysis. Results: We found 91 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between diabetic nephropathy tissues and normal kidney tissues. Majority DEGs were significantly enriched in the extracellular matrix structural constituent, collagen-containing extracellular matrix. KEGG pathway analysis showed that most of DEGs participated in PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications. Five high relevant sub-networks and the top 16 genes according to 12 topological algorithms were screened out and also five co-expressed gene modules were identified by WGCNA. Eventually, 5 hub genes were identified by taking the intersection which might be involved in the progression of DN. And 11 microRNAs were associated with related genes in WebGestalt. Conclusions: We identified five hub genes, namely COL1A2, COL6A3, COL15A1, CLU and LUM, and their related microRNAs(especially miR29 and miR196), which might be used as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for diabetic nephropathy.