Fig. 2

Differentially expressed genes based on integrated analysis and module-trait relationships based on WGCNA analysis in the integrated four GEO datasets (GSE497, GSE6023, GSE45885, GSE45887). A The volcano plot of differentially expressed genes between the Control and NOA groups, blue nodes denote down-regulation in NOA; red nodes denote up-regulation, and grey nodes denote no significant difference. B The heatmap of differentially expressed genes between the Control and NOA groups. C The correlation between scale free topology fit model index (scale free R²) and soft threshold. The red horizontal line denotes R² = 0.9. D The correlation between mean connectivity and soft threshold. E Cluster tree of coexpression modules based on topological overlap measure. F Module-trait relationships between the Control and NOA groups based on WGCNA analysis. Different rows (color) denote different gene modules, each column denotes a clinical trait, and each bot shows the correlation coefficient and representative P value. G Intersection of genes in the GEO_DEGs set and WGCNA_genes set (WGCNA module genes with P value < 0.05). The gene count in the middle denotes the genes common to both gene sets. NOA: non-obstructive azoospermia; WGCNA: weighted gene coexpression network analysis. DEGs: differentially expressed genes