Transcriptomic Changes of The Buccal Epithelium Exposed To Combustion Emissions of Smoky Coal in Xuanwei and Fuyuan, A Rural Region of China

Abstract Indoor air pollution generated from solid fuels affects over half of the world's people. The smoky coal is one of the major sources of indoor air pollution and has been associated with the exceptionally high lung cancer incidence and mortality of non-smoking female residents in rural region Xuanwei and Fuyuan, China. Although some studies have characterized the etiology of the relationship between the smoky coal and the disease risk, the underlying molecular mechanism is still poorly understood. Thus we downloaded RNA sequence data (GSE64277) including 35 non-smoking female residents (26 smoky coal users and 9 smokeless coal users) of Xuanwei and Fuyuan, and conducted Gene Ontology Analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Analysis and Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis for transcriptomic changes in the buccal epithelium. The bioinformatics analysis of transcriptional data revealed that combustion emissions of smoky coal significantly altered the genes expression in the buccal epithelium. Activation of inflammation appeared to be a critical response and key risk factor in buccal epithelium associated with smoky coal-related indoor air pollution exposure. We identified 2318 differentially expressed genes, enriched-biological processes/cell components/pathways, gene co-expresssion relationships, 3 significant modules and 45 hub genes. This study contributes to understanding the uncovering molecular mechanism in the respiratory system that occurs with combustion emissions from smoky coal burning and carrying out potential effective interventions to prevent disease burdens.