ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Viral Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1600713
Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis Identifies Hub Genes and Immune Regulatory Networks in HIV Infection
Provisionally accepted
- 1Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China
- 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Guangxi, China
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Background: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic infectious disease that severely compromises the immune system and currently remains incurable. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying AIDS progression is crucial for developing effective therapeutic strategies. Therefore, this study aims to identify hub genes associated with AIDS susceptibility and progression, as well as to elucidate potential molecular mechanisms involved.The dataset (GSE76246) was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). This study employed a combined approach of differential expression gene (DEG) screening and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to construct gene network modules closely associated with HIV infection. Hub genes were identified using the CytoHubba plugin. Subsequently, the expression of these hub genes was exhibited using box plots and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate their diagnostic performance for HIV-positive individuals. GSEA analysis of these hub genes was conducted using the GSEA-KEGG function from the clusterProfiler package. Furthermore, R software was utilized to estimate the correlation between hub genes and immune infiltration. Finally, a drug-gene interaction network, miRNA network, and transcription factor (TF) regulatory network were constructed.Results: 101 intersection genes were identified by combining DEGs, Oxidative stress genes and module genes from WGCNA. Functional enrichment analysis highlighted key pathways, including oxidative stress response and apoptotic signaling. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis identified 10 hub genes (TP53, AKT1, JUN, CTNNB1, PXDN, MAPK3, FOS, MMP9, FOXO1, STAT1), which showed strong diagnostic potential, as evidenced by ROC curve analysis.Immune infiltration analysis revealed significant associations between hub genes and various immune cell populations. Furthermore, drug-gene interaction analysis predicted several potential therapeutic compounds. Additionally, miRNA and transcription factor (TF) regulatory networks were constructed, identifying critical regulatory elements influencing the expression of hub genes. These findings offer valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying HIV infection and suggest potential therapeutic targets.By employing integrated bioinformatics approaches, we identified ten hub genes, including TP53, AKT1, JUN, CTNNB1, PXDN, MAPK3, FOS, MMP9, FOXO1, and STAT1, which serve as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HIV infection.
Keywords: HIV infection, Bioinformatics analysis, Hub genes, immune, regulatory networks
Received: 26 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pang, Chen, Jing, Shi, Chen, Huang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoxia Pang, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China
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