JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Th9 cells are a novel subset of Th cells that develop independently from Th2 cells and are characterized by the secretion of IL-9. Th9 cells involvement in veritable autoimmune diseases is known. However, there is a dearth of information on its involvement in other metabolic, neuropsychiatric and infectious diseases that are yet to be unearthed.

Objective:

This study aimed to identify significant Differentially expressed genes in Th2 and Th9 cells and their regulating miRNAs from publicly available Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data sets of mouse models using in silico analysis to unravel various pathogenic pathways involved in disease processes.

Methods:

Using DEGs identified from 2 publicly available data sets. We performed functional enrichment and network analyses to identify pathways, protein-protein interactions, miRNA-mRNA, and disease-gene associations for the DEGs involved in the differentiation of Th2 and Th9 cells.

Results:

We extracted 260 common downregulated, 236 common upregulated, and 634 totals common DEGs from the expression profile of GEO datasets GSE99166 and GSE123501. Co-differentially expressed Interleukins, Cytokines, Receptor proteins and Transcription Factors were enriched in seven crucial KEGG pathways. We also identified various metabolic, Allergic and Pulmonary, Carcinomas, Neuropsychiatric, Autoimmune, and Infectious Diseases where the differentiation of Th2 to Th9 may play a crucial role.

Conclusions:

The current study identified hitherto unexplored possible associations between Th9 and disease states. The scarcity of studies on the role of Th9 in metabolic diseases highlights the lacunae in this field. Our study provides the rationale for exploring the role of Th9 in various metabolic disorders.