Dynamic changes in gene-to-gene regulatory networks in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Sci Rep. 2021 May 27;11(1):11241. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-90556-1.

Abstract

The current pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 has caused extensive damage to society. The characterization of SARS-CoV-2 profiles has been addressed by researchers globally with the aim of resolving this disruptive crisis. This investigation process is indispensable to understand how SARS-CoV-2 behaves in human host cells. However, little is known about the systematic molecular mechanisms involved in the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on human host cells. Here, we present gene-to-gene regulatory networks in response to SARS-CoV-2 using a Bayesian network. We examined the dynamic changes in the SARS-CoV-2-purturbated networks established by our proposed framework for gene network analysis, thus revealing that interferon signaling gradually switched to the subsequent inflammatory cytokine signaling cascades. Furthermore, we succeeded in capturing a COVID-19 patient-specific network in which transduction of these signals was concurrently induced. This enabled us to explore the local regulatory systems influenced by SARS-CoV-2 in host cells more precisely at an individual level. Our panel of network analyses has provided new insights into SARS-CoV-2 research from the perspective of cellular systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bayes Theorem
  • COVID-19 / genetics
  • COVID-19 / metabolism*
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • Cell Line
  • Computational Biology
  • Databases, Genetic
  • Gene Regulatory Networks*
  • Humans
  • RNA-Seq
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics
  • SARS-CoV-2 / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / genetics*
  • Viral Load