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Flow Cytometry Analysis of Immune Cell Subsets within the Murine Spleen, Bone Marrow, Lymph Nodes and Synovial Tissue in an Osteoarthritis Model
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Bioinformatics and system biology analysis revealed the crosstalk between COVID-19 and osteoarthritis

Bowen Lai1, Heng Jiang1, Taotao Liao1

  • 1Department of Orthopedics, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.

Immunity, Inflammation and Disease
|December 29, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Bioinformatics identified four key genes common to COVID-19 and osteoarthritis (OA), offering potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets for both conditions. This research provides insights into shared pathologies and immune cell involvement.

Area of Science:

  • Genomics and Bioinformatics
  • Immunology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about its impact on public health.
  • An association between osteoarthritis (OA) and COVID-19 incidence/severity necessitates further investigation.
  • Optimal diagnostic and treatment strategies for patients with co-occurring COVID-19 and OA are currently unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the common pathological mechanisms between COVID-19 and osteoarthritis using bioinformatics.
  • To identify potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for co-infected patients.

Main Methods:

  • Screening of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using the 'limma' R package.
  • Construction of protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and identification of hub genes via Cytoscape.
  • Validation of hub genes in external datasets and an OA mouse model; prediction of regulatory microRNAs (miRNAs) and transcriptional factors (TFs); drug screening; and analysis of immune cell infiltration using CIBERSORT and scRNA-seq.

Main Results:

  • Identified 74 common DEGs between COVID-19 and OA.
  • Validated four hub genes (matrix metalloproteinases 9, ATF3, CCL4, RELA) as effective diagnostic markers for both diseases.
  • Discovered 84 miRNAs and 28 TFs regulating hub gene expression, identified potential drugs (e.g., Simvastatin, Hydrocortisone), and observed distinct immune cell infiltration patterns (high Macrophage M0, low NK and Mast cells) in both conditions.

Conclusions:

  • The identified hub genes, miRNAs, TFs, drugs, and immune infiltration patterns provide a deeper understanding of COVID-19 and OA pathogenesis.
  • These findings suggest potential therapeutic targets for managing patients with both COVID-19 and osteoarthritis.
Abstract

Keywords:
bioinformaticscoronavirus disease 2019drug therapyhub genesimmune infiltrationosteoarthritis

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