Journal of Inflammation Research
CD74 as a Potential Adjunctive Tissue Biomarker for Bullous Pemphigoid Lesions: A Retrospective Study Integrating Bioinformatics Analysis and Experimental Validation
By Yuanlin Zhang, Xiaolong Zhang, Fei Dong and 8 others.
Abstract
Background
Bullous pemphigoid (BP), an autoimmune blistering disorder that primarily afflicts the geriatric population, poses diagnostic and therapeutic challenges, particularly in patients with comorbidities. This retrospective study aimed to identify and validate potential adjunctive tissue biomarkers for BP and explore their association with immune-related mechanisms through integrated bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation.
Methods
Transcriptomic data from the GEO dataset were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were further cross-referenced with immune-related gene signatures. CD74 was selected as a candidate biomarker and its expression was validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in paraffin-embedded skin tissues from patients with BP, healthy controls (HC), and disease controls, including pemphigus vulgaris (PV), psoriasis (Pso), atopic dermatitis (AD), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Diagnostic performance was evaluated by ROC curve analysis. Single-cell RNA sequencing and immunofluorescence staining were performed to investigate the cellular distribution and immune association of CD74.