A review and analysis of key biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease

Zhihao Zhang; Xiangtao Liu; Suixia Zhang; Zhixin Song; Ke Lu; Wenzhong Yang

doi:10.3389/fnins.2024.1358998

A review and analysis of key biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease

Front Neurosci. 2024 Feb 20:18:1358998. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1358998. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Zhihao Zhang^{1

2}, Xiangtao Liu², Suixia Zhang^{2

3

4}, Zhixin Song², Ke Lu¹, Wenzhong Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Computer Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Ürümqi, China.
² College of Medical Engineering and Technology, Xinjiang Medical University, Ürümqi, China.
³ College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention, Treatment of Central Asian High Incidence Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Ürümqi, China.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects over 50 million elderly individuals worldwide. Although the pathogenesis of AD is not fully understood, based on current research, researchers are able to identify potential biomarker genes and proteins that may serve as effective targets against AD. This article aims to present a comprehensive overview of recent advances in AD biomarker identification, with highlights on the use of various algorithms, the exploration of relevant biological processes, and the investigation of shared biomarkers with co-occurring diseases. Additionally, this article includes a statistical analysis of key genes reported in the research literature, and identifies the intersection with AD-related gene sets from databases such as AlzGen, GeneCard, and DisGeNet. For these gene sets, besides enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks utilized to identify central genes among the overlapping genes. Enrichment analysis, protein interaction network analysis, and tissue-specific connectedness analysis based on GTEx database performed on multiple groups of overlapping genes. Our work has laid the foundation for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of AD and more accurate identification of key AD markers.

Keywords: AD biomarker; GEO; GTEx; review; tissue-specific.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Autonomous Region (2022D01C434) and State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention, Treatment of Central Asian High Incidence Diseases Fund (SKL-HIDCA-2022-23).