scholarly journals An Integrative Transcriptomic Analysis of Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis for Identifying Potential Genetic Markers and Drug Candidates

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 712
Author(s):  
Daeun Kim ◽  
Jaeseung Song ◽  
Sora Lee ◽  
Junghyun Jung ◽  
Wonhee Jang

Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) is a rare subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, whose clinical features are systemic fever and rash accompanied by painful joints and inflammation. Even though sJIA has been reported to be an autoinflammatory disorder, its exact pathogenesis remains unclear. In this study, we integrated a meta-analysis with a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) using 5 microarray datasets and an RNA sequencing dataset to understand the interconnection of susceptibility genes for sJIA. Using the integrative analysis, we identified a robust sJIA signature that consisted of 2 co-expressed gene sets comprising 103 up-regulated genes and 25 down-regulated genes in sJIA patients compared with healthy controls. Among the 128 sJIA signature genes, we identified an up-regulated cluster of 11 genes and a down-regulated cluster of 4 genes, which may play key roles in the pathogenesis of sJIA. We then detected 10 bioactive molecules targeting the significant gene clusters as potential novel drug candidates for sJIA using an in silico drug repositioning analysis. These findings suggest that the gene clusters may be potential genetic markers of sJIA and 10 drug candidates can contribute to the development of new therapeutic options for sJIA.

Author(s):  
Natesh Singh ◽  
Ludovic Chaput ◽  
Bruno O Villoutreix

Abstract The interplay between life sciences and advancing technology drives a continuous cycle of chemical data growth; these data are most often stored in open or partially open databases. In parallel, many different types of algorithms are being developed to manipulate these chemical objects and associated bioactivity data. Virtual screening methods are among the most popular computational approaches in pharmaceutical research. Today, user-friendly web-based tools are available to help scientists perform virtual screening experiments. This article provides an overview of internet resources enabling and supporting chemical biology and early drug discovery with a main emphasis on web servers dedicated to virtual ligand screening and small-molecule docking. This survey first introduces some key concepts and then presents recent and easily accessible virtual screening and related target-fishing tools as well as briefly discusses case studies enabled by some of these web services. Notwithstanding further improvements, already available web-based tools not only contribute to the design of bioactive molecules and assist drug repositioning but also help to generate new ideas and explore different hypotheses in a timely fashion while contributing to teaching in the field of drug development.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arsen Arakelyan ◽  
Lilit Nersisyan ◽  
Maria Nikoghosyan ◽  
Siras Hakobyan ◽  
Arman Simonyan ◽  
...  

Drug repositioning can save considerable time and resources and significantly speed up the drug development process. The increasing availability of drug action and disease-associated transcriptome data makes it an attractive source for repositioning studies. Here, we have developed a transcriptome-guided approach for drug/biologics repositioning based on multi-layer self-organizing maps (ml-SOM). It allows for analyzing multiple transcriptome datasets by segmenting them into layers of drug action- and disease-associated transcriptome data. A comparison of expression changes in clusters of functionally related genes across the layers identifies “drug target” spots in disease layers and evaluates the repositioning possibility of a drug. The repositioning potential for two approved biologics drugs (infliximab and brodalumab) confirmed the drugs’ action for approved diseases (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease for infliximab and psoriasis for brodalumab). We showed the potential efficacy of infliximab for the treatment of sarcoidosis, but not chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Brodalumab failed to affect dysregulated functional gene clusters in Crohn’s disease (CD) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA), clearly indicating that it may not be effective in the treatment of these diseases. In conclusion, ml-SOM offers a novel approach for transcriptome-guided drug repositioning that could be particularly useful for biologics drugs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (52) ◽  
pp. 15970-15975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Ombrello ◽  
Elaine F. Remmers ◽  
Ioanna Tachmazidou ◽  
Alexei Grom ◽  
Dirk Foell ◽  
...  

Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) is an often severe, potentially life-threatening childhood inflammatory disease, the pathophysiology of which is poorly understood. To determine whether genetic variation within the MHC locus on chromosome 6 influences sJIA susceptibility, we performed an association study of 982 children with sJIA and 8,010 healthy control subjects from nine countries. Using meta-analysis of directly observed and imputed SNP genotypes and imputed classic HLA types, we identified the MHC locus as a bona fide susceptibility locus with effects on sJIA risk that transcended geographically defined strata. The strongest sJIA-associated SNP, rs151043342 [P = 2.8 × 10−17, odds ratio (OR) 2.6 (2.1, 3.3)], was part of a cluster of 482 sJIA-associated SNPs that spanned a 400-kb region and included the class II HLA region. Conditional analysis controlling for the effect of rs151043342 found that rs12722051 independently influenced sJIA risk [P = 1.0 × 10−5, OR 0.7 (0.6, 0.8)]. Meta-analysis of imputed classic HLA-type associations in six study populations of Western European ancestry revealed that HLA-DRB1*11 and its defining amino acid residue, glutamate 58, were strongly associated with sJIA [P = 2.7 × 10−16, OR 2.3 (1.9, 2.8)], as was the HLA-DRB1*11—HLA-DQA1*05—HLA-DQB1*03 haplotype [6.4 × 10−17, OR 2.3 (1.9, 2.9)]. By examining the MHC locus in the largest collection of sJIA patients assembled to date, this study solidifies the relationship between the class II HLA region and sJIA, implicating adaptive immune molecules in the pathogenesis of sJIA.


Author(s):  
В.Н. Сахаров ◽  
П.Ф. Литвицкий ◽  
Е.И. Алексеева ◽  
Н.А. Маянский ◽  
Р.Ш. Закиров

Цель исследования - изучение перепрограммирования мононуклеарных лейкоцитов на модели системного ювенильного идиопатического артрита (сЮИА), воспроизводимой у крыс Wistar с использованием полного адъюванта Фрейнда и липополисахарида. Методика. сЮИА воспроизведен у 6-месячных крыс-самцов Wistar. На 40-е сут. эксперимента животные были разделены на 3 группы: 1-я группа - контроль; 2-я - группа доксициклина; 3-я - группа дексаметазона. Взятие проб крови у животных проводили на нулевые, 41-е и 55-е сут. Мононуклеарные клетки периферической крови выделяли гравиметрически, после чего окрашивали их на маркеры и внутриклеточные цитокины. Дифференцировали моноциты (CD3-CD4+) и Т-хелперы (CD3+CD4+). Анализировали динамику внутриклеточной экспрессии интерлейкина IL-4 (рассматривали как маркер про-М2 фенотипа, так как в случае выделения из клетки ИЛ-4 служит стимулятором М2 поляризации макрофагов) и IFN-g (как маркер про-М1 фенотипа) по данным проточной цитофлуориметрии. Применяли непараметрический статистический тест Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon в программе R для статистической обработки данных. Результаты и заключение. При моделировании сЮИА выявлено закономерное изменение фенотипа моноцитов. Применение же доксициклина и дексаметазона приводило к более ранней поляризации их по про-М2-пути в отношении моноцитов (на 41-е сут.) в сравнении с контролем. Про-М1 эффект (на 55-е сут., в сравнении с контролем) выявлен также в группах доксициклина и дексаметазона. У животных разных групп обнаружены характерные динамические изменения внутриклеточной экспрессии цитокинов. Важно, что различная направленность поляризации фенотипа при сЮИА и применении препаратов наблюдается не только у моноцитов, но и у Т-хелперов. The study objective was to evaluate targeted reprogramming of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) modeled in 6-month-old male Wistar rats by co-administration of complete Freund’s adjuvant and lipopolysaccharide. Methods. On day 40 of the experiment, rats were divided into three groups: control, doxycycline, and dexamethasone groups. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 41, and 55. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated gravimetrically and stained for markers and cytokines. Monocytes (CD3-CD4+) and T-helpers (CD3+CD4+) were differentiated as target cells. IL-4 was considered a marker for the pro-M2 phenotype since IL-4 can activate M2 macrophage polarization; IFN-g was considered a marker for the pro-M1 phenotype. Time-related changes in the intracellular expression of IL-4 and IFN-g were studied using flow cytometry. Data were analyzed using nonparametric statistical tests (Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon) in the R environment for statistical computing. Results and conclusions. Monocytes (like macrophages) underwent reprogramming during the development of modeled sJIA disease. In monocytes of doxycycline and dexamethasone treatment groups, pro-M2 effects were observed earlier (day 41) than in the control group. Pro-M1 effects were observed in monocytes of doxycycline and dexamethasone groups on day 55, as compared with the control group. Characteristic time-related changes of intracellular cytokine expression were described for different groups. Importantly, the differently directed phenotype polarization was observed in sJIA and treatment groups for both monocytes and T-helpers.


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