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Zheng B, Sun J, Luo H, Yang L, Li Q, Zhang L, Si Y, Cao S, Ye J. Testosterone protects mice against zika virus infection and suppresses the inflammatory response in the brain. iScience 2022; 25:105300. [PMID: 36304103 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Testosterone is essential to human growth and development as well as immune regulation. Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging arbovirus associated with neurological complications including neuroinflammation, can also cause testicular damage and decrease testosterone secretion. However, whether the dysregulation of testosterone plays a role in the process of neuroinflammation during ZIKV pathogenesis is still unclear. In this study, we found that ZIKV infection caused testicular damage and decreased testosterone secretion in male mice, and testosterone supplementation after ZIKV infection reduced their mortality and attenuated the pathological symptoms. Further investigation revealed that testosterone treatment after ZIKV infection alleviated inflammation and nerve injury in the mouse brain. Additionally, reduced CD8+ T cell infiltration and interferon-gamma production were observed in brains of testosterone-treated mice. Overall, our results demonstrated that testosterone plays a protective role in ZIKV-infected mice, and thus it can be developed as a potential therapeutic drug against ZIKV infection.
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Karami H, Derakhshani A, Ghasemigol M, Fereidouni M, Miri-Moghaddam E, Baradaran B, Tabrizi NJ, Najafi S, Solimando AG, Marsh LM, Silvestris N, De Summa S, Paradiso AV, Racanelli V, Safarpour H. Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis Combined with Machine Learning Validation to Identify Key Modules and Hub Genes Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infection. J Clin Med 2021; 10:3567. [PMID: 34441862 PMCID: PMC8397209 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10163567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an enormous loss of lives. Various clinical trials of vaccines and drugs are being conducted worldwide; nevertheless, as of today, no effective drug exists for COVID-19. The identification of key genes and pathways in this disease may lead to finding potential drug targets and biomarkers. Here, we applied weighted gene co-expression network analysis and LIME as an explainable artificial intelligence algorithm to comprehensively characterize transcriptional changes in bronchial epithelium cells (primary human lung epithelium (NHBE) and transformed lung alveolar (A549) cells) during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Our study detected a network that significantly correlated to the pathogenicity of COVID-19 infection based on identified hub genes in each cell line separately. The novel hub gene signature that was detected in our study, including PGLYRP4 and HEPHL1, may shed light on the pathogenesis of COVID-19, holding promise for future prognostic and therapeutic approaches. The enrichment analysis of hub genes showed that the most relevant biological process and KEGG pathways were the type I interferon signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, cytokine-mediated signaling pathway, and defense response to virus categories, all of which play significant roles in restricting viral infection. Moreover, according to the drug-target network, we identified 17 novel FDA-approved candidate drugs, which could potentially be used to treat COVID-19 patients through the regulation of four hub genes of the co-expression network. In conclusion, the aforementioned hub genes might play potential roles in translational medicine and might become promising therapeutic targets. Further in vitro and in vivo experimental studies are needed to evaluate the role of these hub genes in COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hassan Karami
- Student Research Committee, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand 9717853577, Iran;
| | - Afshin Derakhshani
- Laboratory of Experimental Pharmacology, IRCCS-Istituto Tumori Giovanni Paolo II, 70124 Bari, Italy;
- Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 516615731, Iran; (B.B.); (N.J.T.); (S.N.)
| | - Mohammad Ghasemigol
- Department of Computer Engineering, University of Birjand, Birjand 9717434765, Iran;
| | - Mohammad Fereidouni
- Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand 9717853577, Iran;
| | - Ebrahim Miri-Moghaddam
- Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center & Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand 9717853577, Iran;
| | - Behzad Baradaran
- Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 516615731, Iran; (B.B.); (N.J.T.); (S.N.)
- Pharmaceutical Analysis Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 516615731, Iran
| | - Neda Jalili Tabrizi
- Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 516615731, Iran; (B.B.); (N.J.T.); (S.N.)
| | - Souzan Najafi
- Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 516615731, Iran; (B.B.); (N.J.T.); (S.N.)
| | - Antonio Giovanni Solimando
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70121 Bari, Italy; (A.G.S.); (N.S.)
| | - Leigh M. Marsh
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Vascular Research, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/VI, 8010 Graz, Austria;
| | - Nicola Silvestris
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70121 Bari, Italy; (A.G.S.); (N.S.)
- Medical Oncology Unit, IRCCS-Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II” of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Simona De Summa
- Molecular Diagnostics and Pharmacogenetics Unit, IRCCS-Istituto Tumori ‘Giovanni Paolo II’, 70124 Bari, Italy;
| | | | - Vito Racanelli
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70121 Bari, Italy; (A.G.S.); (N.S.)
| | - Hossein Safarpour
- Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand 9717853577, Iran;
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