Nephroprotective mechanism of Kunkui Baoshen decoction in diabetic kidney disease: Targeting the HERC2/NCOA4-mediated autophagy-dependent ferroptosis pathway

Figure 6 Transcriptomic analysis of renal tissues following Kunkui Baoshen decoction treatment. A: Hierarchical clustering heatmap of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the Kunkui Baoshen decoction treatment and db/db groups. Each column represents an individual sample, and each row corresponds to a gene. Red indicates upregulation; blue indicates downregulation, visualizing distinct gene expression patterns between groups; B: Volcano plot of DEGs from transcriptomic sequencing comparing Kunkui Baoshen decoction and db/db groups. The X-axis represents the log₂ fold change in gene expression, while the Y-axis indicates statistical significance (-log₁₀P value). Red points denote significantly upregulated genes, blue points indicate significantly downregulated genes, and gray points represent non-significant genes; C: The top 19 hub genes identified based on their degree values. The length of the red bars represents the degree score of each gene; the longer the bar, the more central the gene is within the network, suggesting a potentially greater regulatory role; D: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis of the top DEGs from transcriptomic sequencing. The length of each bar reflects the relative importance of the pathway, with longer bars indicating more significant enrichment. KKBS: Kunkui Baoshen decoction; DKD: Diabetic kidney disease; NCOA4: Nuclear receptor coactivator 4; JAK2: Janus kinase 2; IL1A: Interleukin-1α; TGF-β1: Transforming growth factor-β1; FCGR3A: Fc gamma receptor IIIa; FOS: FBJ murine osteosarcoma viral oncogene homolog; MMP9: Matrix metalloproteinase 9; TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; ANXA5: Annexin A5; CCND1: Cyclin D1; SOCS1: Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1; MX1: Myxovirus resistance 1; KDR: Kinase insert domain receptor; CXCL12: C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12; CCR2: C-C motif chemokine receptor 2; VAV1: Vav 1 oncogene; NF-κB: Nuclear facto-κB; FoxO: Forkhead box O; AGE-RAGE: Advanced glycation end products-receptor for advanced glycation end products; IL-17: Interleukin-17.