Elucidating the potential mechanism of the impact of air pollution/particulate matter on astrocytoma through network toxicology and bioinformatics analysis

Abstract As an important component of environmental pollution, air pollution was considered as the causative factor in the occurrence of diseases such as lung cancer. However, there is still a lack of relevant studies to elucidate the associations between air pollution and astrocytomas. This study aims to interpret the molecular mechanisms of air pollution's impact on the pathogenesis of astrocytomas. Bioinformatics and network toxicology analysis were utilized to illustrate the effects of air pollution on the malignant biological behavior of astrocytomas and the prognosis of astrocytoma patients. Three specific abnormal expressed genes (KIAA1549, NTRK2, PTPN11) that may be affected by air pollution/particulate matter (PM) were identified in astrogliomas. Besides, our model based on machine learning algorithms revealed that air pollution/PM can affect the prognosis of astrocytoma patients via LATS2, MET, ESR2, and HGF. Molecular docking analysis further verified the potential interactions between air pollutants and these core targets. This study firstly combined bioinformatics and network toxicology analysis strategies to uncover the hub genes potentially mediating the effects of air pollution/PM in astrocytoma, providing evidence that air pollution/PM exposure has a potential association with the pathogenesis and prognosis of astrocytoma. Our study emphasized the necessity of further epidemiological and clinical studies.