Unveiling the unexplored novel signatures for osteoporosis via a detailed bioinformatics and molecular experiments based approach.

Background: Osteoporosis (OP) stands as a prevalent bone ailment affecting the elderly, globally. The identification of reliable diagnostic markers crucially aids OP clinical management.

Methods: Utilizing the GEO database (GSE35959), we acquired expression profiles for OP and normal samples. Differential expression genes (DEGs) and hub genes were pinpointed through STRING, GEO2R, and Cytoscape. The competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed using miRTarBase, miRDB, and MiRcode databases. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed via DAVID. Validation involved clinical OP samples from the Pakistani population, with Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) assessing hub gene expression.

Results: A total of 2124 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between OP and normal samples in GSE35959. The selected hub genes among these DEGs were Splicing Factor 3a Subunit 1 (SF3A1), Ataxin 2 Like (ATXN2L), Heat Shock Protein 90 Beta Family Member 1 (HSP90B1), Cluster of Differentiation 74 (CD74), DExH-Box Helicase 29 (DHX29), ALG5 Dolichyl-Phosphate Beta-Glucosyltransferase (ALG5), NudC Domain Containing 2 (NUDCD2), and Ras-related protein Rab-2A (RAB2A). Expression validation of these genes on the Pakistani OP patients revealed significant up-regulation of SF3A1, ATXN2L, and CD74 and significant (P < 0.05) down-regulation of HSP90B1, DHX29, ALG5, NUDCD2, and RAB2A in OP patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that these hub genes displayed considerable diagnostic accuracy for detecting OP. The ceRNA network analysis of the hub genes revealed some important hub genes' regulatory miRNAs and lncRNAs. Via KEGG analysis, hub genes were found to be enriched in N-Glycan biosynthesis, Thyroid hormone synthesis, IL-17 signaling pathway, Prostate cancer, AMPK signaling pathway, Spliceosome, Estrogen signaling pathway, and Fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, etc., pathways.

Conclusion: The identified eight hub genes in the present study could reliably distinguish OP patients from normal individuals, which may provide novel insight into the diagnostic research of OP.