Meta-analysis of Infantile Hemangioma Endothelial Cell Microarray Expression Data Reveals Significant Aberrations of Gene Networks Involved in Cell Adhesion and Extracellular Matrix Composition

Abstract

Infantile hemangiomas are non-malignant, largely cutaneous vascular tumors affecting approximately 10% of children to varying degrees. Little is known regarding aberrant signaling processes that underlie this benign tumor. To address this, we performed meta-analysis on a published whole genome microarray dataset comparing the transcriptional patterns of endothelial cells purified from normal skin and infantile hemangioma tumors. Bioinformatics network analysis statistically identified the most over represented cellular processes differentiating the two cell types, including major changes in cell adhesion and extracellular matrix degradation. From these network processes, we identified a core set of 29 genes including increases in the expression of COL5A1, COL5A2, COL4A6, and MMP2 and decreases in the expression of COL1A1, COL1A2, MMP1/13, and TIMP1, suggesting that infantile hemangioma endothelial cells exhibit altered adhesive properties via changes in the levels of collagens and their direct regulators.