Key Points
• Investigators identified 418 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in breast cancer cell lines using bioinformatics tools. They found in silico evidence for candidate genes integral for the inhibition, adhesion, and encoding cytokine protein including LYN, IGFBP5, IL-1R1, and IL-13RA1. These candidates could serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 related therapy targets, as well as other targets of infectious disease.
• The authors wrote, “[W]e suggest understandings into the fundamental pathogenesis of COVID-19 through gene expression analyses using the microarray data set GSE156445 publicly reachable at NIH/NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus database. The data set consists of MCF7 which is a human breast cancer cell line with estrogen, progesterone and glucocorticoid receptors. The cell lines treated with different quantities of Cissampelos pareira (Cipa). Cipa is a traditional medicinal plant which would possess an antiviral potency in preventing viral diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.”
• The researchers showed that COVID-19 exerted a negative effect on calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion by means of plasma membrane cell adhesion molecules, synapses assembly, homophilic cell adhesion by means of plasma membrane adhesion molecules, and interleukin-3-mediated signaling.
• The authors suggested that drugs targeting cell-cell adhesion molecules, RNA transport, bacterial invasion of epithelial cells, and mRNA surveillance pathways could proffer benefit by means of decreased immunity or emerge as antigenically distinct strains moving forward. They also noted the importance of regulating metabolisms including protein kinase activity as important constituents of various viral infections, including SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.
• One limitation of the current study is that Cipa treated MCF7 cell lines of breast cancer in vitro were compared with COVID-19 that affected only some types of breast cancer.