Revealing biomarkers and major pathways between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-like viruses using transcriptomics analysis

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is common for patients with COVID-19 to present with fatigue, fever, cough, loss of taste and smell, headache, and other clinical manifestations. Several studies have proved that the transmission pathogenicity, genetic patterns of SARS and SARS-CoV-2 are very similar. In this research, we attempted to investigate the transcriptional signature of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in vivo, with SARS viruses. Differentially expressed genes (DEG) were identified through analyzing three datasets (GSE147507, GSE17400, and GSE150316). After identification the common DEG between each dataset were applied for pathways as well as gene ontology analysis to comprehend their compatibility. These common DEGs were also employed to generate the protein-protein interaction network, gene regulatory network, and gene co-expression network. The networks illustrated, how genes are regulated by various transcription factors and miRNAs. Overexpression's of many genes are linked to comorbid disorders, malignant cell growth, inflammatory cytokine, and chemokine activation. Finally, some drugs were predicted based on these highly expressed genes, which may have a significant impact on reducing the burden of these diseases in the future.