Proteome-wide data analysis reveals tissue-specific network associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Immunology
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Clinical observations show severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes multi-organ damage.
• Current virus-host interaction research primarily focuses on cellular levels, lacking tissue-specific insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate tissue-specific virus-host interactions in COVID-19.
• To identify potential therapeutic targets for multi-organ injury caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Main Methods:

• Construction of virus-receptor, virus-interaction, and virus-perturbation networks.
• Analysis of proteomic datasets from human lung, colon, kidney, liver, and heart tissues.

Main Results:

• Identification of both common and distinct key hubs in SARS-CoV-2 infection across different tissues.
• Ubiquitous hubs (e.g., BRD4, RIPK1) identified as potential targets for multi-organ injury and inflammation.
• Tissue-unique hubs (e.g., REEP5) implicated in specific symptoms like olfactory dysfunction.

Conclusions:

• SARS-CoV-2 impacts multiple targets in diverse host tissues, highlighting the complexity of COVID-19.
• Targeting identified hubs may offer strategies for treating multi-organ damage and inflammation in COVID-19 patients.