International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Gene Expression Analysis of Mevalonate Kinase Deficiency Affected Children Identifies Molecular Signatures Related to Hematopoiesis Simona Pisanti * , Marianna Citro , Mario Abate , Mariella Caputo and Rosanna Martinelli * Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry ‘Scuola Medica Salernitana’, University of Salerno, Via Salvatore Allende, 84081 Baronissi (SA), Italy;
[email protected] (M.C.);
[email protected] (M.A.);
[email protected] (M.C.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] (S.P.);
[email protected] (R.M.) Abstract: Mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD) is a rare autoinflammatory genetic disorder charac- terized by recurrent fever attacks and systemic inflammation with potentially severe complications. Although it is recognized that the lack of protein prenylation consequent to mevalonate pathway blockade drives IL1β hypersecretion, and hence autoinflammation, MKD pathogenesis and the molecular mechanisms underlaying most of its clinical manifestations are still largely unknown. In this study, we performed a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of a microarray dataset of MKD patients, using gene ontology and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) tools, in order to identify the most significant differentially expressed genes and infer their predicted relationships into biological processes, pathways, and networks. We found that hematopoiesis linked biological functions and pathways are predominant in the gene ontology of differentially expressed genes in MKD, in line with the observed clinical feature of anemia. We also provided novel information about the molecular Citation: Pisanti, S.; Citro, M.; Abate, M.; Caputo, M.; Martinelli, R. mechanisms at the basis of the hematological abnormalities observed, that are linked to the chronic Gene Expression Analysis of inflammation and to defective prenylation.