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Bulletin of Health Sphere

Published by Font Fusions Publication  •  eISSN: 3139-8634

Integrated Multi-Dataset Transcriptomic and Network Analysis Reveals GAPDH as a Prominent Hub Gene and Identifies Key Molecular Alterations in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Volume 1, Issue 2 • 2026
Original Research

Siddhant Srivastav ORCID iD , Shishir Goswami ORCID iD , Ruby Singh ORCID iD

Received:
2026-06-08
Accepted:
2026-08-25
Published:
2026-09-30

Abstract

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a life-threatening cancer of the pleura that is usually related to asbestos exposure, has a long latent period, progresses quickly, has a poor prognosis, and few treatment options. It is, therefore, crucial to recognize molecular changes and therapeutic targets.

Methodology: Five GEO datasets (GSE51024, GSE42977, GSE112154, GSE2549, GSE29370) were analyzed to determine the genes that were differentially expressed between MPM and normal tissues. For gene ontological and pathway enrichment analysis, the Enrichr, DAVID and Metascape were used, and for pathway characterization, KEGG and Reactome were used. STRING-based protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was analyzed by using Cytoscape and cytoHubba plugin to identify the hub genes. Druggability assessment was then carried out to prioritize the drugs for further consideration.

Results: DEGs related to inflammatory response, extracellular matrix organization, apoptotic signaling and cell proliferation were identified from the integrated analysis. The pathways enriched with the enriched pathways were PI3K-Akt signaling, focal adhesion, p53 signaling, and extracellular matrix–receptor interaction. Through PPI analysis, highly connected hub genes were identified and GAPDH was a major molecular hub in the datasets analyzed.

Conclusion: The integrated transcriptomic and network-based approach provided important molecular changes and potential targets for MPM. One of the hub genes that were strongly expressed was GAPDH, which may have a biological significance. It needs further clinical and experimental validation for its diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic significance.

DOI: 10.63150/bhs.2026.09
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Article Information
Journal
Bull. Health Sphere
ISSN
xxxx-xxxx
Publisher
Font Fusions Publication
Pages
71-79
Article Type
Original Research
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