Multi-omics characterization of RNA binding proteins reveals disease comorbidities and potential drugs in COVID-19

Jiwei Pan; Yueying Gao; Huirui Han; Tao Pan; Jing Guo; Si Li; Juan Xu; Yongsheng Li

doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.106651

Multi-omics characterization of RNA binding proteins reveals disease comorbidities and potential drugs in COVID-19

Comput Biol Med. 2023 Mar:155:106651. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.106651. Epub 2023 Feb 10.

Authors

Jiwei Pan¹, Yueying Gao¹, Huirui Han¹, Tao Pan¹, Jing Guo¹, Si Li¹, Juan Xu², Yongsheng Li³

Affiliations

¹ NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, College of Biomedical Information and Engineering, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199, China.
² College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China. Electronic address: xujuanbiocc@ems.hrbmu.edu.cn.
³ NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, College of Biomedical Information and Engineering, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199, China. Electronic address: liyongsheng@hainmc.edu.cn.

Abstract

The COVID-19 has led to a devastating global health crisis, which emphasizes the urgent need to deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanism and identifying potential antiviral drugs. Here, we comprehensively analyzed the transcriptomic and proteomic profiles of 178 COVID-19 patients, ranging from asymptomatic to critically ill. Our analyses found that the RNA binding proteins (RBPs) were likely to be perturbed in infection. Interactome analysis revealed that RBPs interact with virus proteins and the viral interacting RBPs were likely to locate in central regions of human protein-protein interaction network. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that the viral interacting RBPs were likely to be enriched in RNA transport, apoptosis and viral genome replication-related pathways. Based on network proximity analyses of 299 human complex-disease genes and COVID-19-related RBPs in the human interactome, we revealed the significant associations between complex diseases and COVID-19. Network analysis also implicated potential antiviral drugs for treatment of COVID-19. In summary, our integrative characterization of COVID-19 patients may thus help providing evidence regarding pathophysiology and potential therapeutic strategies for COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Network analysis; Potential drugs; RNA binding proteins.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antiviral Agents
COVID-19*
Humans
Multiomics
Proteomics
RNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
RNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism

Substances

RNA-Binding Proteins
Antiviral Agents