An epigenome-wide DNA methylation study of patients with COVID-19.
Ann Hum Genet
; 85(6): 221-234, 2021 11.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1286650
ABSTRACT
In the early 2000s, emerging SARS-CoV-2, which is highly pathogenic, posed a great threat to public health. During COVID-19, epigenetic regulation is deemed to be an important part of the pathophysiology and illness severity. Using the Illumina Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip (850 K), we investigated genome-wide differences in DNA methylation between healthy subjects and COVID-19 patients with different disease severities. We conducted a combined analysis and selected 35 "marker" genes that could indicate a SARS-CoV-2 infection, including 12 (ATHL1, CHN2, CHST15, CPLX2, CRHR2, DCAKD, GNAI2, HECW1, HYAL1, MIR510, PDE11A, and SMG6) situated in the promoter region. The functions and pathways of differentially methylated genes were enriched in biological processes, signal transduction, and the immune system. In the "Severe versus Mild" group, differentially methylated genes, after eliminating duplicates, were used for PPI analyses. The four hub genes (GNG7, GNAS, PRKCZ, and PRKAG2) that had the highest degree of nodes were identified and among them, GNG7 and GNAS genes expressions were also downregulated in the severe group in sequencing results. Above all, the results suggest that GNG7 and GNAS may play a non-ignorable role in the progression of COVID-19. In conclusion, the identified key genes and related pathways in the current study can be used to study the molecular mechanisms of COVID-19 and may provide possibilities for specific treatments.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Severity of Illness Index
/
DNA Methylation
/
Epigenesis, Genetic
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann Hum Genet
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ahg.12440
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