Investigating the Role of SPAG4 in Chronic Periodontitis Based on Bioinformatics and Histological Evidence

Abstract

Objective: This study employs bioinformatics strategies to analyze the potential role of SPAG4 in the progression of chronic periodontitis and validates these findings through experiments using clinical samples, with the aim of providing new insights for the screening of biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted interventions for this disease.

Methods: The periodontitis transcriptomic dataset GSE10334 was obtained from the GEO database, and bioinformatics analysis was performed to elucidate the expression profile of SPAG4. Gingival tissue samples were collected from healthy controls and patients with chronic periodontitis; RT-qPCR was used to detect differences in SPAG4 mRNA expression, and immunohistochemistry was employed to reveal its protein distribution.

Results: Bioinformatics analysis revealed that SPAG4 expression was significantly upregulated in chronic periodontitis tissues, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.868. A protein interaction network was constructed using the STRING database and Cytoscape software, identifying four core immune-related genes: TNFRSF17, CD79A, CD19, and CD79B. Clinical validation results indicated that, compared with the healthy control group, the mRNA levels of both SPAG4 and CD79A were significantly elevated in chronic periodontitis tissues (P < 0.05); Spearman’s correlation analysis confirmed a positive correlation between their expressions (r = 0.452, P = 0.019). Immunohistochemical results showed that SPAG4-positive signals were primarily localized in the gingival epithelial layer.

Conclusion: SPAG4 may serve as a diagnostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for chronic periodontitis.