Fig. 4

PPI network constructed from the common DEGs and their topological features and significant modules. a A PPI network was constructed from STRING using the 164 common DEGs. The nodes represent proteins, the edges represent the interactions of proteins and the green circles and red circles indicate downregulated and upregulated DEGs, respectively. b–e The basic topological features of the network included degrees, topological coefficients, neighborhood connectivity, and clustering coefficients. The degree distribution of this network displayed a power law distribution of f(x) = 100.46x^−1.54 and an R² of 0.857. f–h Three significant modules in the PPI network with MCODE scores ≥ 5. Green circles and red circles indicate downregulated and upregulated DEGs, respectively. PPI, protein-protein interaction; DEGs, differentially expressed genes; STRING, Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes; MCODE, Molecular Complex Detection