Abstract:
Objective To investigate the differences of stromal status between benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and normal prostate tissues by transcriptomic analysis, and the significance of this difference in the course of BPH.
Methods Transcriptome data and clinical phenotype data of BPH and normal prostate samples were searched from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The discovery set was composed of GSE119195, GSE7307, and GSE101486, and the verification set was GSE132714. ESTIMATE and xCell were used to calculate the stromal state and cellular components of BPH and normal prostate tissues. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to explore gene modules related to the stromal status of BPH samples and carry out related modules combined differential gene enrichment analysis. Finally, through protein-protein interaction analysis, 12 hub genes were found, and through least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, a gene diagnosis model of BPH was constructed.
Results The stromal score of BPH samples was higher than that of normal prostate samples (P=0.002 5). Through the xCell algorithm, this research found that fibroblasts and pericytes in BPH samples increased significantly (both P < 0.05). In contrast, endothelial cells, myocytes, osteoblasts and smooth muscle cells reduced (all P < 0.05). Through WGCNA analysis, four gene modules related to the stromal state of BPH were obtained. Finally, we constructed a genetic diagnosis model of 4 genes (NEB, DMD, IGF1, KRAS) through LASSO regression, and verified it in the validation set data.
Conclusions The stromal score of BPH tissue is significantly higher than that of normal prostate tissue. Further analysis shows that there are more fibroblasts and fewer smooth muscle cells in BPH tissue, which may be related to the occurrence and development of prostate hyperplasia. This paper also establishes a BPH diagnostic model of 4 genes. These results may lead the investigation of molecular biological mechanism of BPH and future drug research.