An Integrative Analysis Identifying Transcriptional Features and key Genes Involved in COVID-19

Abstract

Aim: To elucidate the transcriptional characteristics of COVID-19. Materials&methods: We utilized an integrative approach to comprehensively analyze the transcriptional features of both COVID-19 patients and SARS-CoV-2 infected cells. Results: Widespread infiltration of immune cells was observed. We identified 233 genes that were codifferentially expressed in both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung samples of COVID-19 patients. Functional analysis suggested upregulated genes were related to immune response such as neutrophil activation and antivirus response, while downregulated genes were associated with cell adhesion. Finally, we identified LCN2, STAT1 and UBE2L6 as core genes during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Conclusion: The identification of core genes involved in COVID-19 can provide us with more insights into the molecular features of COVID-19.

Keywords::

• COVID-19
• LCN2
• SARS-CoV-2
• STAT1
• transcriptional features

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/epi-2020-0168

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Y Zhou, BR ten Oever and their colleagues for sharing the valuable RNA-Seq data of COVID-19.

Financial and competing interests disclosure

The work was supported by 2019-nCoV tackling project of Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau (2020-YF05-00003-SN), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81970026, 82000029), Health Commission of Sichuan Province (19ZD002), Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (2018JY0380), project of Chengdu high level clinical key specialty. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval and have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by 2019-nCoV tackling project of Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau (2020-YF05-00003-SN), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81970026, 82000029), Health Commission of Sichuan Province (19ZD002), Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (2018JY0380), project of Chengdu high level clinical key specialty. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.