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SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene
Numerous researches have focused on the genetic variations affecting SARS-CoV-2 infection, whereas the epigenetic effects are inadequately described. In this report, for the first time, we have identified potential candidate genes that might be regulated via SARS-CoV-2 induced DNA methylation change...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7933663/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33679887 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.622271 |
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author | Muhammad, Jibran Sualeh Saheb Sharif-Askari, Narjes Cui, Zheng-Guo Hamad, Mawieh Halwani, Rabih |
author_facet | Muhammad, Jibran Sualeh Saheb Sharif-Askari, Narjes Cui, Zheng-Guo Hamad, Mawieh Halwani, Rabih |
author_sort | Muhammad, Jibran Sualeh |
collection | PubMed |
description | Numerous researches have focused on the genetic variations affecting SARS-CoV-2 infection, whereas the epigenetic effects are inadequately described. In this report, for the first time, we have identified potential candidate genes that might be regulated via SARS-CoV-2 induced DNA methylation changes in COVID-19 infection. At first, in silico transcriptomic data of COVID-19 lung autopsies were used to identify the top differentially expressed genes containing CpG Islands in their promoter region. Similar gene regulations were also observed in an in vitro model of SARS-CoV-2 infected lung epithelial cells (NHBE and A549). SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly decreased the levels of DNA methyltransferases (DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B) in lung epithelial cells. Out of 14 candidate genes identified, the expression of 12 genes was upregulated suggesting promoter hypomethylation, while only two genes were downregulated suggesting promoter hypermethylation in COVID-19. Among those 12 upregulated genes, only HSPA1L and ULBP2 were found to be upregulated in AZA-treated lung epithelial cells and immune cells, suggesting their epigenetic regulation. To confirm the hypomethylation of these two genes during SARS-CoV-2 infection, their promoter methylation and mRNA expression levels were determined in the genomic DNA/RNA obtained from whole blood samples of asymptomatic, severe COVID-19 patients and equally matched healthy controls. The methylation level of HSPA1L was significantly decreased and the mRNA expression was increased in both asymptomatic and severe COVID-19 blood samples suggesting its epigenetic regulation by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Functionally, HSPA1L is known to facilitate host viral replication and has been proposed as a potential target for antiviral prophylaxis and treatment. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7933663 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-79336632021-03-06 SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene Muhammad, Jibran Sualeh Saheb Sharif-Askari, Narjes Cui, Zheng-Guo Hamad, Mawieh Halwani, Rabih Front Genet Genetics Numerous researches have focused on the genetic variations affecting SARS-CoV-2 infection, whereas the epigenetic effects are inadequately described. In this report, for the first time, we have identified potential candidate genes that might be regulated via SARS-CoV-2 induced DNA methylation changes in COVID-19 infection. At first, in silico transcriptomic data of COVID-19 lung autopsies were used to identify the top differentially expressed genes containing CpG Islands in their promoter region. Similar gene regulations were also observed in an in vitro model of SARS-CoV-2 infected lung epithelial cells (NHBE and A549). SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly decreased the levels of DNA methyltransferases (DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B) in lung epithelial cells. Out of 14 candidate genes identified, the expression of 12 genes was upregulated suggesting promoter hypomethylation, while only two genes were downregulated suggesting promoter hypermethylation in COVID-19. Among those 12 upregulated genes, only HSPA1L and ULBP2 were found to be upregulated in AZA-treated lung epithelial cells and immune cells, suggesting their epigenetic regulation. To confirm the hypomethylation of these two genes during SARS-CoV-2 infection, their promoter methylation and mRNA expression levels were determined in the genomic DNA/RNA obtained from whole blood samples of asymptomatic, severe COVID-19 patients and equally matched healthy controls. The methylation level of HSPA1L was significantly decreased and the mRNA expression was increased in both asymptomatic and severe COVID-19 blood samples suggesting its epigenetic regulation by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Functionally, HSPA1L is known to facilitate host viral replication and has been proposed as a potential target for antiviral prophylaxis and treatment. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-19 /pmc/articles/PMC7933663/ /pubmed/33679887 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.622271 Text en Copyright © 2021 Muhammad, Saheb Sharif-Askari, Cui, Hamad and Halwani. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Genetics Muhammad, Jibran Sualeh Saheb Sharif-Askari, Narjes Cui, Zheng-Guo Hamad, Mawieh Halwani, Rabih SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene |
title | SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene |
title_full | SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene |
title_fullStr | SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene |
title_full_unstemmed | SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene |
title_short | SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Induced Promoter Hypomethylation as an Epigenetic Modulator of Heat Shock Protein A1L (HSPA1L) Gene |
title_sort | sars-cov-2 infection-induced promoter hypomethylation as an epigenetic modulator of heat shock protein a1l (hspa1l) gene |
topic | Genetics |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7933663/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33679887 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.622271 |
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