The identification of key genes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by bioinformatics analysis of high-throughput data.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common pattern of regional malignancy in the south of China, especially in Guangdong province. The development of computerized tomography (CT) technology and the improvement of radiotherapy scheme can improve the survival rate of NPC patients. However, the prevalence and recurrence rate of NPC are increasing every year. It is urgent for us to uncover the molecular mechanism of NPC. In this study, we used scientific information retrieval from the GEO (gene expression omnibus) database to download the GSE12452, which contained 41 samples, including 31 nasopharyngeal carcinoma samples and 10 control samples. With the help of GO (gene ontology) analysis, KEGG (kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) analysis, PPI (protein-protein interaction) network model construction, and WGCNA (weighted gene co-expression network analysis), we found 6896 differentially expressed genes, which affected the biological processes included cell cycle process, DNA metabolic process, DNA repairing, immune response, cell activation, regulation of immune system process, inflammatory response. The 20 hub genes present in front of us are SYK, PIK3CG, FYN, ACACB, LRRK2, RIPK4, RAC2, PIK3CD, PTPRC, LCR, RAD51, MAD2L1, CDK1, PCNA, GMPS, CCNB1, GAPDH, CCNA2, RFC4, TOP2A. In the future, these are the areas where we need to focus on the molecular mechanism of NPC.