PCDH7 as the key gene related to the co-occurrence of sarcopenia and osteoporosis

Mingchong Liu; Yongheng Wang; Wentao Shi; Chensong Yang; Qidong Wang; Jingyao Chen; Jun Li; Bingdi Chen; Guixin Sun

doi:10.3389/fgene.2023.1163162

PCDH7 as the key gene related to the co-occurrence of sarcopenia and osteoporosis

Front Genet. 2023 Jul 5:14:1163162. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1163162. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mingchong Liu¹, Yongheng Wang², Wentao Shi², Chensong Yang¹, Qidong Wang¹, Jingyao Chen³, Jun Li³, Bingdi Chen³, Guixin Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Traumatic Surgery, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
² Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
³ Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, The Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Nano Science, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Sarcopenia and osteoporosis, two degenerative diseases in older patients, have become severe health problems in aging societies. Muscles and bones, the most important components of the motor system, are derived from mesodermal and ectodermal mesenchymal stem cells. The adjacent anatomical relationship between them provides the basic conditions for mechanical and chemical signals, which may contribute to the co-occurrence of sarcopenia and osteoporosis. Identifying the potential common crosstalk genes between them may provide new insights for preventing and treating their development. In this study, DEG analysis, WGCNA, and machine learning algorithms were used to identify the key crosstalk genes of sarcopenia and osteoporosis; this was then validated using independent datasets and clinical samples. Finally, four crosstalk genes (ARHGEF10, PCDH7, CST6, and ROBO3) were identified, and mRNA expression and protein levels of PCDH7 in clinical samples from patients with sarcopenia, with osteoporosis, and with both sarcopenia and osteoporosis were found to be significantly higher than those from patients without sarcopenia or osteoporosis. PCDH7 seems to be a key gene related to the development of both sarcopenia and osteoporosis.

Keywords: bioinformatic analysis; crosstalk genes; machine learning; osteoporosis; sarcopenia.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant/Award Number: 81971169) and Leading Talents Training Program of Pudong New Area Health Commission (Grant ID: PWR 12020-06).