Selecting molecular therapeutic drug targets based on the expression profiles of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas and miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks

The incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is increasing yearly, making it the second most common carcinoma after hepatocellular carcinoma among primary malignant liver tumors. Integrated miRNA and mRNA analysis is becoming more frequently used in antitumor ICC treatment. However, this approach generates vast amounts of data, which leads to difficulties performing comprehensive analyses to identify specific therapeutic drug targets. In this study, we provide an in-depth analysis of ICC function, identifying potential highly potent antitumor drugs for antitumor therapy. Two sets of whole genome expression profiles were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Using modular bioinformatic analysis, six core functional modules were identified for ICC. Based on a Fisher's test of the CMap small molecule drug database, 65 drug components were identified that regulated the genes of these six core modules. Literature mining was then used to identify 15 new potential antitumor drugs.