Protein microarray analysis identifies key cytokines associated with malignant middle cerebral artery infarction

Introduction: We aimed to explore potential cytokines involved in the malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (MMI) and elucidate their underlying regulatory mechanisms. Methods: We first developed a cytokine profile by Quantibody((R)) Human Cytokine Antibody Array7000 using serum samples from eight patients with MMI and eight patients with non-acute cerebral infarction (NACI). The differentially expressed cytokines were then identified in patients with MMI using two-tailed Student's t-test and Fisher's Exact Test compared with patients with NACI. Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analyses were performed using DAVID. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed based on STRING database. Results: A total of 10 differentially expressed cytokines were identified from 320 unique inflammatory cytokines in serums. Among them, four cytokines, like NCAM1 (neural cell adhesion molecule 1), IGFBP-6 (insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6), LYVE1 (lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor 1), and LCN2 (Lipocalin2), were up-regulated, while another six cytokines, such as TGFB1 (transforming growth factor, beta 1, also known as LAP), EGF (epidermal growth factor), PDGFA (platelet-derived growth factor alpha polypeptide), MMP-10 (matrix metallopeptidase 10), IL-27 (interleukin 27), and CCL2 (chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2), were down-regulated. Moreover, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway was significantly enriched. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that 10 differentially expressed cytokines, such as NCAM1, LCN2, IGFBP-6, LYVE1, MMP-10, IL-27, PDGFA, EGF, CCL2, and TGFB1 may participate in the development of MMI. Moreover, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway may be an important mechanism involved in this disease. These differentially expressed cytokines may serve as diagnostic biomarkers or drug targets for MMI.