Bioinformatics analysis of colorectal cancer related gene

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is ranked as one of the three most common cancers in the world. This research aims at exploring the molecular mechanisms of CRC. We used R language to analyze gene expression data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. By using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) database, the function and pathway enrichment of differentially expressed genes were analyzed. The Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by STRING and Cytoscape. A total of 205 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened out. These differentially expressed genes mainly enriched in the terms of regulation of leukocyte chemo taxis, chemokine receptor binding and chemokine-mediated signaling pathway. The PPI network of differentially expressed genes was constructed. Seven hub genes (CCL2, TPM1, DES, CXCL12, MYLK, MYL9 and TPM2) were identified. We conclude that these 7 genes may be involved in the occurrence of CRC.