Gene expression profiling of patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head：A transcriptomics high-throughput analysis

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the molecular mechanism of bone trabeculae in the development and progression of osteonecrosis of the femoral head（ONFH） and biomarkers for the diagnosis and prediction of ONFH. Methods：Bone trabecular tissue was collected from 4 patients with ONFH（experimental group） and 4 patients with femoral neck fracture（control group），and transcriptome sequencing was performed to screen out differentially expressed genes. These genes were analyzed using bioinformatics software to predict possible biological processes and signaling pathways involving these genes. Results：High-throughput sequencing identified 1527 differentially expressed genes，with 696 upregulated genes and 831 downregulated genes，and there were significant reductions in the expression of lipocalin 2（LCN2） and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ（PPARγ） in bone trabecular tissue. The gene ontology analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in extracellular matrix（ECM） and extra－cellular structural tissue. The kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genome（KEGG） analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in ECM-receptor interaction and the PPARγ signaling pathway. Conclusion：This study shows that LCN2 affects the development of ONFH by regulating lipid metabolism and osteogenic differentiation，which provides a clue for exploring the molecular mechanism of ONFH and related diagnostic biomarkers.