Exploration of the link between COVID-19 and gastric cancer from the perspective of bioinformatics and systems biology (preprint)

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has caused a global pandemic. Gastric cancer (GC) poses a great threat to people's health, which is a high-risk factor for COVID-19. Previous studies have found some associations between GC and COVID-19, whereas the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Methods: We used a bioinformatics and systems biology approach to investigate the relationship between GC and COVID-19. The gene expression profiles of COVID-19 (GSE196822) and GC (GSE179252) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. After identifying the shared differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for GC and COVID-19, functional annotation, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, hub genes, transcriptional regulatory networks and candidate drugs were analyzed. Results: A total of 209 shared DEGs were identified to explore the linkages between COVID-19 and GC. Functional analyses showed that Immune-related pathway collectively participated in the development and progression of COVID-19 and GC. In addition, there are selected 10 hub genes including CDK1, KIF20A, TPX2, UBE2C, HJURP, CENPA, PLK1, MKI67, IFI6, and IFIT2. The transcription factor/gene and miRNA/gene interaction networks identified 38 transcription factors (TFs) and 234 miRNAs. More importantly, we identified ten potential therapeutic agents, including ciclopirox, resveratrol, etoposide, methotrexate, trifluridine, enterolactone, troglitazone, calcitriol, dasatinib and deferoxamine, some of which have been reported to improve and treat GC and COVID-19. This study also provides insight into the diseases most associated with mutual DEGs, which may provide new ideas for research on the treatment of COVID-19. Conclusions: This research has the possibility to be contributed to effective therapeutic in COVID-19 and GC.

Exploration of the Link Between COVID-19 and Alcoholic Hepatitis from the Perspective of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (preprint)

Objective: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been suggested to purpose threats to health of mankind. Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a life-threatening acute and chronic liver failure that takes place in sufferers who drink excessively. During the epidemic, AH has an increasing incidence of severe illness and mortality. However, for these two diseases, the intrinsic relationship of molecular pathogenesis, as well as common therapeutic strategies are still poorly understood. Methods: The transcriptome of the COVID-19 and AH has been compared to obtain the altered genes and hub genes were screened out through protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Via gene ontology (GO), pathway enrichment and transcription regulator analysis, a deeper appreciation of the interplay mechanism between hub genes were established. Results: With 181 common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of AH and COVID-19 were obtained, 10 hub genes were captured. Follow-up studies located that these 10 genes typically mediated the diseases occurrence by regulating the activities of the immune system. Other results suggest that the common pathways of the two ailments are enriched in regulating the function of immune cells and the release of immune molecules. Conclusion: This study reveals the common pathogenesis of COVID-19 and AH and assist to discover necessary therapeutic targets to combat the ongoing pandemic induced via SARS-CoV-2 infection and acquire promising remedy strategies for the two diseases.