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Bioinformatics can help understand COVID-19
27 May 2020
News
Prof. James Adjaye, head of the Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine in Düsseldorf, and the bioinformatician Wasco Wruck have carried out a meta-analysis of RNA sequence data from three Sars-Cov2 studies, in which human lung epithelial cells had been used.
At present neither vaccination nor therapies are available although several antiviral agents such as remdesivir, originally an Ebola drug, nelfinavir, an HIV-1 protease inhibitor and other drugs such as lopinavir have been evaluated. Here, the study performed a meta-analysis of RNA-sequencing data from three studies employing human lung epithelial cells. Of these, one focused on lung epithelial cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. The study aimed at identifying genes co-expressed with angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) the human cell entry receptor of SARS-CoV-2, and unveiled several genes correlated or inversely correlated with high significance Gene Ontologies revealed regulation of viral life cycle, immune responses, and pro- inflammatory responses. Scientists believe that this dataset will aid in a better understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) underlying COVID-19.
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