Target RNA modification for epigenetic drug repositioning in neuroblastoma: computational omics proximity between repurposing drug and disease

RNA modifications modulate most steps of gene expression. However, little is known about its role in neuroblastoma (NBL) and the inhibitors targeting it. We analyzed the RNA-seq (n=122) and CNV data (n=78) from NBL patients in Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) database. The NBL sub-clusters (cluster1/2) were identified via consensus clustering for expression of RNA modification regulators (RNA-MRs). Cox regression, principle component analysis and chi-square analysis were used to compare differences of survival, transcriptome, and clinicopathology between clusters. Cluster1 showed significantly poor prognosis, of which RNA-MRs’ expression and CNV alteration were closely related to pathologic stage. RNA-MRs and functional related prognostic genes were obtained using spearman correlation analysis, and queried in CMap and L1000 FWD database to obtain 88 inhibitors. The effects of 5 inhibitors on RNA-MRs were confirmed in SH-SY5Y cells. The RNA-MRs exhibited two complementary regulation functions: one conducted by TET2 and related to translation and glycolysis; another conducted by ALYREF, NSUN2 and ADARB1 and related to cell cycle and DNA repair. The perturbed proteomic profile of HDAC inhibitors was different from that of others, thus drug combination overcame drug resistance and was potential for NBL therapy with RNA-MRs as therapeutic targets.