Comprehensive analysis of miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and potential drugs in chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy across human and mouse

Background

Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) is the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America and often causes severe inflammation and fibrosis in the heart. Studies on myocardial function and its molecular mechanisms in patients with Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy are very limited. In order to understand the development and progression of Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy and find targets for its diagnosis and treatment, the field needs to better understand the exact molecular mechanisms involved in these processes.

Methods

The mRNA microarray datasets GSE84796 (human) and GSE24088 (mouse) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Homologous genes between the two species were identified using the online database mining tool Biomart, followed by differential expression analysis, gene enrichment analysis and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network construction. Cytohubba plug-in of Cytoscape software was used to identify Hub gene, and miRNet was used to construct the corresponding miRNA–mRNA regulatory network. miRNA-related databases: miRDB, Targetscan and miRWalk were used to further evaluate miRNAs in the miRNA–mRNA network. Furthermore, Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) and L1000 Platform were used to identify hub gene-related drugs.

Results

A total of 86 homologous genes were significantly differentially expressed in the two datasets, including 73 genes with high expression and 13 genes with low expression. These differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in the terms of innate immune response, signal transduction, protein binding, Natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity, Tuberculosis, Chemokine signaling pathway, Chagas disease and PI3K−Akt signaling pathway. The top 10 hub genes LAPTM5, LCP1, HCLS1, CORO1A, CD48, TYROBP, RAC2, ARHGDIB, FERMT3 and NCF4 were identified from the PPI network. A total of 122 miRNAs were identified to target these hub genes and 30 of them regulated two or more hub genes at the same time. miRDB, Targetscan and miRWalk were further analyzed and screened out hsa-miR-34c-5p, hsa-miR-34a-5p and hsa-miR-16-5p as miRNAs regulating these hub genes. Finally, Progesterone, Flutamide, Nimesulide, Methotrexate and Temozolomide were identified to target these hub genes and might be targeted therapies for Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy.

Conclusions

In this study, the potential genes associated with Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy are identified and a miRNA–mRNA regulatory network is constructed. This study explores the molecular mechanisms of Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy and provides important clues for finding new therapeutic targets.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12920-021-01134-3.

Polymorphism in the catalytic subunit of the PI3Kγ gene is associated with Trypanosoma cruzi-induced chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy

Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. During the chronic phase of disease, while most infected people do not present symptoms, characterizing the asymptomatic form, some patients develop the cardiac form or chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy, which is considered the most severe manifestation of this disease. Considering that the activation of the PI3Kγ signaling pathway is essential for an efficient immune response against T. cruzi infection, we evaluated the PIK3CG C > T (rs1129293) polymorphism in exon 3 of this gene, which encodes the catalytic subunit of PI3Kγ. The PIK3CG CT and TT genotypes were found to be associated with an increased risk of developing the cardiac form of the disease rather than the asymptomatic or digestive forms. In conclusion, the presence of the T allele at single or double doses may differentiate the cardiac from other clinical manifestations of Chagas disease. This finding should help in further studies to evaluate the mechanisms underlying the differential association of PIK3CG in Chagas disease.