Abstract
During 2020, understanding the molecular mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 infection (the cause of COVID-19) became a scientific priority due to the devastating effects of the COVID-19. Many researchers have studied the effect of this viral infection on lung epithelial transcriptomes and deposited data in public repositories. Comprehensive analysis of such data could pave the way for development of efficient vaccines and effective drugs. In the current study, we obtained high-throughput gene expression data associated with human lung epithelial cells infected with respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS, H1N1, avian influenza, rhinovirus and Dhori, then performed comparative transcriptome analysis to identify SARS-CoV-2 exclusive genes. The analysis yielded seven SARS-CoV-2 specific genes including CSF2 [GM-CSF] (colony-stimulating factor 2) and calcium-binding proteins (such as S100A8 and S100A9), which are known to be involved in respiratory diseases. The analyses showed that genes involved in inflammation are commonly altered by infection of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses. Furthermore, results of protein–protein interaction analyses were consistent with a functional role of CSF2 and S100A9 in COVID-19 disease. In conclusion, our analysis revealed cellular genes associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection of the human lung epithelium; these are potential therapeutic targets.
Highlights
During 2020, understanding the molecular mechanism of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 infection became a scientific priority due to the devastating effects of the COVID-19
164 genes were up-regulated, and 76 genes were down-regulated on SARS-CoV-2 infection of normal human bronchial epithelial cells [GSE147507] (Fig. 1a)
We observed the availability of various microarray studies related to human respiratory viral infection and sensed the opportunity to compare the effect of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viral infections on the human lung transcriptome
Summary
During 2020, understanding the molecular mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 infection (the cause of COVID19) became a scientific priority due to the devastating effects of the COVID-19. We obtained high-throughput gene expression data associated with human lung epithelial cells infected with respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS, H1N1, avian influenza, rhinovirus and Dhori, performed comparative transcriptome analysis to identify SARS-CoV-2 exclusive genes. In the last three decades, the world has witnessed zoonotic transmission of various viruses (from animals to humans) leading to severe respiratory complications These include H1N1, avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV)[3,4]. Meta-analysis and mining of such data can aid in a) understanding the molecular impact of COVID-19, b) elucidating differences and similarities between SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory virus infections, and c) identifying targets for drug development. We performed comparative analysis of publicly available gene expression data related to human lung epithelial cells infected with a respiratory virus. Several COVID-19 clinical trials are currently focusing on inhibition of CSF2 [GM-CSF]13–15
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