Objective: Atherosclerosis is characterized by the formation of fibrofatty plaques in the intima of arteries, resulting in thickening of the vessel wall and narrowing of the lumen. Chronic stress refers to individuals in a state of long-term chronic stress. However, the relationship between NDUFB11 and NDUFS3 and atherosclerosis and chronic stress is unclear.
Method: The atherosclerosis with chronic stress group data file was used. DEGs were screened and WGCNA was performed. Construction and analysis of PPI Network. Functional enrichment analysis, GSEA, gene expression heatmap, immune infiltration analysis and mRNA analysis were performed. CTD was used to find diseases most related to core genes. WB was performed. TargetScan was used to screen miRNAs of DEGs.
Results: 1708 DEGs were identified. According to GO analysis, they were mainly enriched in catabolic processes, organic acid metabolism processes, carboxylic acid metabolism processes. KEGG analysis showed that they were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways, fatty acid metabolism, pentose phosphate pathway, glycolysis / gluconeogenesis, fructose and mannose metabolism. Gene expression heatmap showed that the core genes (NDUFB11, NDUFS3) were lowly expressed in samples of those with atherosclerosis accompanied by chronic stress and highly expressed in the normal samples. NDUFB11 and NDUFS3 were associated with necrosis, hyperplasia, inflammation, renal disease, weight loss, memory impairment, and cognitive impairment. WB showed that the expression level of NDUFS3 in atherosclerosis and chronic stress was lower than that in control group.
Conclusions: NDUFB11 and NDUFS3 are underexpressed in atherosclerosis and chronic stress; the lower NDUFB11 and NDUFS3 levels, the worse the prognosis.
Keywords: NDUFB11; NDUFS3; atherosclerosis; bioinformatics; chronic stress.