scholarly journals Identifying new COVID-19 receptor Neuropilin-1 in severe Alzheimer’s diseases patients group brain using genome-wide association study approach

Author(s):  
Key-Hwan Lim ◽  
Sumin Yang ◽  
Sung-Hyun Kim ◽  
Jae-Yeol Joo

Abstract Background Numerous studies have been conducted on different aspects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, since its emergence in late 2019. Mutual relations among SARS-CoV-2 and neuro-pathophysiological phenomena are continuously being demonstrated, and several underlying diseases, such as those in the elderly, are positively correlated with susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The expression of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is required for SARS-CoV-2 infection, was recently demonstrated to be increased in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients.Methods Recent preclinical studies have shown that Neuropilin-1 (NRP1), which is a transmembrane protein with roles in neuronal development, axonal outgrowth, and angiogenesis, also plays a role in the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, we hypothesized that NRP1 may be upregulated in AD patients and that a correlation between AD and SARS-CoV-2 NRP1-mediated infectivity may exist. We used an AD mouse model that mimics AD and performed high throughput total RNA-seq with brain tissue and whole blood. For quantification of NPR1 in AD, brain tissues and blood were subjected to western blotting and RT-qPCR analysis. In silico analysis for NRP1 expression in AD patients has been performed on the human hippocampus data sets (GSE4226, GSE1297).Results Many cases of severe symptom of COVID-19 are concentrated in elderly group who have complications such as diabetes, degenerative disease, and brain disorders. Total RNA-seq analysis showed that Nrp1 gene was commonly overexpressed in AD model. Similar to ACE2, NRP1 protein also strongly expressed in the AD brain tissues. Interestingly, in silico analysis revealed that the level of expression for NRP1 was distinct at age and AD progression.Conclusions Given that the NRP1 is highly expressed in AD, it will be important to understand and predict that NRP1 may a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection in AD patients. This will support to development of potential therapeutic drug to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Key-Hwan Lim ◽  
Sumin Yang ◽  
Sung-Hyun Kim ◽  
Jae-Yeol Joo

Abstract Background Numerous studies have been conducted on different aspects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, since its emergence in late 2019. Mutual relations among SARS-CoV-2 and neuro-pathophysiological phenomena are continuously being demonstrated, and several underlying diseases, such as those in the elderly, are positively correlated with susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The expression of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is required for SARS-CoV-2 infection, was recently demonstrated to be increased in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. Methods Recent preclinical studies have shown that Neuropilin-1 (NRP1), which is a transmembrane protein with roles in neuronal development, axonal outgrowth, and angiogenesis, also plays a role in the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, we hypothesized that NRP1 may be upregulated in AD patients and that a correlation between AD and SARS-CoV-2 NRP1-mediated infectivity may exist. We used an AD mouse model that mimics AD and performed high throughput total RNA-seq with brain tissue and whole blood. For quantification of NPR1 in AD, brain tissues and blood were subjected to western blotting and RT-qPCR analysis. In silico analysis for NRP1 expression in AD patients has been performed on the human hippocampus data sets (GSE4226, GSE1297). Results Many cases of severe symptom of COVID-19 are concentrated in elderly group who have complications such as diabetes, degenerative disease, and brain disorders. Total RNA-seq analysis showed that Nrp1 gene was commonly overexpressed in AD model. Similar to ACE2, NRP1 protein also strongly expressed in the AD brain tissues. Interestingly, in silico analysis revealed that the level of expression for NRP1 was distinct at age and AD progression. Conclusions Given that the NRP1 is highly expressed in AD, it will be important to understand and predict that NRP1 may a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection in AD patients. This will support to development of potential therapeutic drug to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Key-Hwan Lim ◽  
Sumin Yang ◽  
Sung-Hyun Kim ◽  
Jae-Yeol Joo

Recent preclinical studies show that Neuropilin-1 (NRP1), which is a transmembrane protein with roles in neuronal development, axonal outgrowth, and angiogenesis, also plays a role in the infectivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Thus, we hypothesize that NRP1 may be upregulated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and that a correlation between AD and SARS-CoV-2 NRP1-mediated infectivity may exist as angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). We used an AD mouse model that mimics AD and performed high-throughput total RNA-seq with brain tissue and whole blood. For quantification of NRP1 in AD, brain tissues and blood were subjected to Western blotting and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis. In silico analysis for NRP1 expression in AD patients has been performed on human hippocampus data sets. Many cases of severe symptoms of COVID-19 are concentrated in an elderly group with complications such as diabetes, degenerative disease, and brain disorders. Total RNA-seq analysis showed that the Nrp1 gene was commonly overexpressed in the AD model. Similar to ACE2, the NRP1 protein is also strongly expressed in AD brain tissues. Interestingly, in silico analysis revealed that the level of expression for NRP1 was distinct at age and AD progression. Given that NRP1 is highly expressed in AD, it is important to understand and predict that NRP1 may be a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection in AD patients. This supports the development of potential therapeutic drugs to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoyi Wang ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Haksong Pak ◽  
Tao Yan ◽  
Mingxun Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is an important oil crop world-widely cultivated, and seed oil content (SOC) is one of the most important traits for rapeseed. To increase SOC, many efforts for promoting the function of genes on lipid biosynthesis pathway have been previously made. However, seed oil formation is a dynamic balance between lipid synthesis and breakdown. It is, therefore, also reasonable to weaken or eliminate the function of genes involved in lipid degradation for a higher final SOC. Results We applied a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on SOC in a collection of 290 core germplasm accessions. A total of 2,705,480 high-quality SNPs were used in the GWAS, and we identified BnaC07g30920D, a patatin-like lipase (PTL) gene, that was associated with SOC. In particular, six single-nucleotide-polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of BnaC07g30920D were associated with the significant reduction of SOC, leading to a 4.7–6.2% reduction of SOCs. We performed in silico analysis to show a total of 40 PTLs, which were divided into four clades, evenly distributed on the A and C subgenomes of Brassica napus. RNA-seq analysis unveiled that BnPTLs were preferentially expressed in reproductive tissues especially maturing seeds. Conclusions We identified BnaC07g30920D, a BnPTL gene, that was associated with SOC using GWAS and performed in silico analysis of 40 PTLs in Brassica napus. The results enrich our knowledge about the SOC formation in rapeseed and facilitate the future study in functional characterization of BnPTL genes.


Author(s):  
Elena Susana Barbieri ◽  
Tamara Rubilar ◽  
Ayelén Gázquez ◽  
Marisa Avaro ◽  
Erina Noé Seiler ◽  
...  

Several studies have been published regarding the interaction between the spike protein of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 receptor in the host cells. In the presente work, we evaluated the in silico properties of two sea urchin pigments, Echinochrome A (EchA) and Spinochromes (SpinA) against the Spike protein (S) towards finding a potential therapeutic drug against the disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The best ensemble docking pose of EchaA and SpinA showed a binding affinity of -5.9 and -6.7 kcal mol-1, respectively. The linked aminoacids (T505, G496 and Y449 for EchA and Y449, Q493 and G496 for SpinA) are in positions involved in ACE2 binding in both RBDs frim SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 suggesting that EchA and SpinA may interact with Spike proteins drom both viruses. The results suggest that these pigments could act as inhibitors of S protein, pointing them as antiviral drugs for SARS-CoV-2.<br>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javad Amini ◽  
Bahram Bibak ◽  
Amir R Afshar ◽  
Amirhossein Sahebkar

Neurodegenerative diseases (ND) are characterized by loss of function and structure of neurons. NDs like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) have high burden on the society and patients. Currently microRNAs (miRNAs) approach is growing. miRNAs express in different tissues, especially in the central neuron systems (CNS). miRNAs have a dynamic role in the CNS among this miRNAs, miR-124 significantly express in the CNS. Studies on miR-124 have shown that miR-124 improves ND. In this study, we evaluated the role of miR-124 in the ND by literature review and in silico analysis. We used Pubmed database to find miR-124 function in the Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. To better understand the role of miR-124 in the neurons, RNA-seq data form miR-124-deleted neuronal cells extracted from GEO database and analyzed in Galaxy platform. According literature review miR-124 attenuates inflammation and apoptosis in the ND by target NF-kb signaling pathway and regulation of BAX/BCL-2. miR-124 targets BACE1 and decreases level of Aβ. RNA-seq data showed miR-124 downregulation, an increase in chemokine gene like CCL1 and cytokine-cytokine receptor-interaction, as well as MAPK-signaling pathway. Our study shows that miR-124 can be promising therapeutic approaches to ND.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Guo ◽  
Ran Wei ◽  
Dylan C Dean ◽  
Francis Hornicek ◽  
Zhenfeng Duan

Background: Although weak SMARCB1 expression is a known diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in several malignancies, its expression and clinical significance in osteosarcoma remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate SMARCB1 expression in osteosarcoma and its clinical significance with respect to chemosensitivity and prognosis. Methods: We obtained 114 specimens from 70 osteosarcoma patients to construct a tissue microarray (TMA) and assess SMARCB1 protein expression via immunohistochemistry. The mRNA expression of SMARCB1 was in silico analyzed using open-access RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and clinicopathological data provided by the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments on Osteosarcoma (TARGET-OS) project. The correlations between SMARCB1 expression and clinical features were statistically analyzed. Results: Weak SMARCB1 expression occurred in 70% of the osteosarcoma patient specimens in the tissue microarray, and significantly correlated with poor neoadjuvant response as well as shorter overall and progression-free survival. In addition, mRNA in silico analysis confirmed SMARCB1 expression correlates with chemotherapeutic response and prognosis in osteosarcoma patients. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study is the first to analyze SMARCB1 expression in osteosarcoma. SMARCB1 may serve as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in osteosarcoma.


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