Exploration of RNA-Binding Proteins and Alternative Splicing Event Genes in Hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis: A Study Based on Transcriptome Sequencing
| Author | Zhigang Gai | en |
| Author | Hai-Hong Zhu | en |
| Author | Jinpeng Wang | en |
| Author | Zheng Wang | en |
| Author | Fucai Ma | en |
| Author | Zhen Liu | en |
| Author | Pan Xia | en |
| Author | Yan Wang | en |
| Issued Date | 2026-12-31 | en |
| Abstract | Background: Hydatid disease is globally distributed, especially in pastoral areas. Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is extremely harmful and deadly. The study of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), variable splicing events, immune chemokines, etc., has positive value in improving the prognosis of patients and other aspects. Objectives: To study the mRNA expression profiles, RBPs, differentially alternative splicing events (ASEs), and genes in liver lesions and adjacent liver tissues of patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) based on RNA-seq data. Methods: RNA-seq was carried out on lesion tissues and adjacent liver tissues from three patients with HAE to obtain mRNA expression profiles. The co-expression relationships among alternative splicing (AS), RBPs, and differentially regulated alternative splicing genes (RASGs) were analyzed. The expression levels of the most differentially expressed genes (DEGs) GNB3, CCL22, and RAC2 were verified by qRT-PCR in ten HAE patients. Results: Compared with the para-focal liver tissue, 855 DEGs (801 up-regulated and 54 down-regulated) were screened in the focal group. Additionally, 568 differentially ASEs were identified. After comparing and analyzing the screened DEGs with the currently known RBPs, 26 differentially expressed RBPs were selected. We found that 26 RBPs were co-expressed with 187 differentially variable RASG, and a total of 894 RBP-AS co-expression pairs were found. We screened the remaining significantly different ASEs in ascending order of the P-value. Eventually, 3 reliable ASEs and 4 RBPs were identified. The 3 reliable AS event genes were LTBP3, AP1B1, and ECHDC2. The four RBP genes were S100A4, vimentin (VIM), CD44, and LGALS3. The relationship between RBPs and RASGs was determined by Pearson correlation analysis, and 5 pairs of RBP-AS were identified: S100A4-ECHDC2, CD44-AP1B1, VIM-AP1B1, CD44-LTBP3, and LGALS3-LTBP3. qRT-PCR revealed that GNB3, CCL22, and RAC2 genes were differentially expressed in different lesion sites of liver tissue in ten patients. Conclusions: The differentially expressed mRNA, differentially expressed variable splicing genes, and RBPs may participate in the occurrence and development of liver alveolar hydatid disease, and play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of alveolar hydatid lesions. The expression differences of GNB3, CCL22, and RAC2 genes at different sites provide strong evidence for the extent of surgical resection. | en |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5812/hepatmon-167239 | en |
| Keyword | mRNA | en |
| Keyword | RNA-seq | en |
| Keyword | Hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis | en |
| Keyword | RNA-Binding Proteins | en |
| Keyword | Alternative Splicing | en |
| Publisher | Brieflands | en |
| Title | Exploration of RNA-Binding Proteins and Alternative Splicing Event Genes in Hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis: A Study Based on Transcriptome Sequencing | en |
| Type | Research Article | en |