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Drug discovery in spinal cord injury-induced osteoporosis: a text mining-based study
Chenfeng Wang1, Yang Xu2, Lin Han1
1Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Background:
Spinal cord injury (SCI) and osteoporosis (OP) are common diseases in spine surgery, and OP could be the complication of SCI. However, SCI-induced OP is a complex pathologic process and drug discovery is limited, which restricts the study in the mechanism and treatment of the disease. This study aims to identify the genes and molecular pathways related to SCI-induced OP through computational tools and public datasets, and to explore drug targeting therapy, ultimately preventing the occurrence of OP after SCI.
Methods:
In this study, common genes related to SCI and OP were obtained by text mining, then which conducted the functional analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed by STRING online and Cytoscape software. Finally, core genes and potential drugs were performed after undergoing drug-gene interaction analysis which also completed functional analysis.
Results:
A total of 371 genes common to 'SCI' and 'OP' were identified by text mining. After functional analysis, 207 significant genes were screened out. Subsequently, PPI analysis yielded 23 genes targetable by 13 drugs which were the candidate to treat SCI-induced OP.
Conclusions:
Taken together, siltuximab, olokizumab, clazakizumab and BAN2401 were first discovered to become the potential drugs for the treatment of SCI-induced OP. Drug discovery using text mining and pathway analysis is a significant way to investigate the pathomechanism of the disease while exploring existing drugs to treat the disease.
Insights
This study identifies genes and pathways linking spinal cord injury (SCI) and osteoporosis (OP), revealing potential drug targets like siltuximab for treating SCI-induced OP.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical informatics
- Genomics
- Drug discovery
Background:
- Spinal cord injury (SCI) and osteoporosis (OP) are prevalent in spine surgery.
- Osteoporosis can be a complication of SCI, presenting a complex pathological process with limited drug discovery options.
- Understanding the mechanisms and treatments for SCI-induced OP is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify genes and molecular pathways associated with SCI-induced OP using computational methods and public datasets.
- To explore potential drug-targeting therapies for preventing OP after SCI.
- To investigate the underlying pathomechanism of SCI-induced OP.
Main Methods:
- Text mining was employed to identify common genes between SCI and OP.
- Functional analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction (using STRING and Cytoscape) were performed.
- Drug-gene interaction analysis identified core genes and potential therapeutic drugs.
Main Results:
- Text mining identified 371 common genes between SCI and OP.
- Functional analysis screened 207 significant genes.
- PPI analysis revealed 23 genes targeted by 13 potential drugs for SCI-induced OP.
Conclusions:
- Siltuximab, olokizumab, clazakizumab, and BAN2401 were identified as potential drugs for treating SCI-induced OP.
- Computational drug discovery, including text mining and pathway analysis, is a valuable approach for understanding disease mechanisms and repurposing drugs.
- This research offers novel therapeutic avenues for SCI-induced osteoporosis.
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