Bioinformatics analysis of fear conditioning memory related genes

Objective To identify key genes associated with fear conditioning memory by bioinformatics analysis of gene expression profiles from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Methods Downloaded from GEO, GSE57465 microarray data were divided into control group and experiment groups (FC_0.5 h group and FC_2h group). The original data was normalized in the R software by the quantile method, and then converted the probe names to the gene names through the annotation package (illumina Mouse v2.db). The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the control and experimental groups were screened by the Limma method, selected Padj 1.5 as DEGs.Clustering analysis, as well as GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were performed in DEGs.At last, DEGs translated proteins interaction network were established, and the key genes in the network were identified. Results 47 DEGs were screened, among them, FC_0.5h group consisted of 36 DEGs and FC_2h group consisted of 11 DEGs.GO and KEGG enrichment analysis suggested that DEGs were mainly enriched in ribosomes, participating in the signal pathway of protein synthesis in ribosomes, and also playing a biological role in the transcription and translation of positive regulatory RNA polymerase II promoter.PPI network analysis showed that Egr2, Fos and Sgk1 which significantly increased, may play as hub proteins in the network. Conclusion Egr2, Fos, Sgk1 may play an important role in the formation of fear conditioning memory. Key words: Fear conditioned memory; Bioinformatics; Microarray Analysis; Clustering analysis