Wei Lu, Zhenyu Yang, Mengjie Wang, Ye Zhang, Zuoliang Qi, Xiaonan Yang
{"title":"Identification of Potential Therapeutics for Infantile Hemangioma via in silico Investigation and in vitro Validation","authors":"Wei Lu, Zhenyu Yang, Mengjie Wang, Ye Zhang, Zuoliang Qi, Xiaonan Yang","doi":"10.2147/dddt.s460575","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Introduction:</strong> Infantile Hemangioma (IH) is a prevalent benign vascular tumor affecting approximately 5– 10% of infants. Its underlying pathogenesis remains enigmatic, and current therapeutic approaches show limited effectiveness. Our study aimed to discover potential IH-associated therapeutics through a transcriptomic, computational drug repurposing methodology.<br/><strong>Methods:</strong> Utilizing the IH-specific dataset GSE127487 from the Gene Expression Omnibus, we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and conducted weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA). Subsequently, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to obtain the top 100 hub genes. Drug candidates were sourced from the Connectivity Map (CMap) and Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD).<br/><strong>Results:</strong> Our analysis revealed 1203 DEGs and a significant module of 1780 mRNAs strongly correlated with IH. These genes were primarily enriched in the <em>PI3K/AKT/MTOR, RAS/MAPK</em>, and <em>CGMP/PKG</em> signaling pathway. After creating a PPI network of overlapping genes, we filtered out the top 100 hub genes. Ultimately, 44 non-toxic drugs were identified through the CMap and CTD databases. Twelve molecular-targeting agents (belinostat, chir 99021, dasatinib, entinostat, panobinostat, sirolimus, sorafenib, sunitinib, thalidomide, U 0126, vorinostat, and wortmannin) may be potential candidates for IH therapy. Moreover, in vitro experiments demonstrated that entinostat, sorafenib, dasatinib, and sirolimus restricted the proliferation and migration and initiated apoptosis in HemEC cells, thereby underscoring their potential therapeutic value.<br/><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Our investigation revealed that the pathogenic mechanism underlying IH might be closely associated with the <em>PI3K/AKT/MTOR, RAS/MAPK</em>, and <em>CGMP/PKG</em> signaling pathways. Furthermore, we identified twelve molecular-targeting agents among the predicted drugs that show promise as therapeutic candidates for IH.<br/><br/><strong>Plain Language Summary:</strong> Transcriptomic analysis used to discover potential therapeutics for Infantile Hemangioma (IH).<br/>Key IH-related pathways: PI3K/AKT/MTOR, RAS/MAPK, and CGMP/PKG signaling identified.<br/>Identified 44 non-toxic drugs as potential IH therapies via CMap and CTD.<br/>Twelve molecular agents show potential as IH therapy candidates.<br/>In vitro studies confirmed entinostat, sorafenib, dasatinib, and sirolimus inhibit HemEC cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. <br/><br/><strong>Keywords:</strong> infantile hemangioma, entinostat, sirolimus, hub gene, transcriptome, bioinformatics<br/>","PeriodicalId":11290,"journal":{"name":"Drug Design, Development and Therapy","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Drug Design, Development and Therapy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/dddt.s460575","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MEDICINAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Infantile Hemangioma (IH) is a prevalent benign vascular tumor affecting approximately 5– 10% of infants. Its underlying pathogenesis remains enigmatic, and current therapeutic approaches show limited effectiveness. Our study aimed to discover potential IH-associated therapeutics through a transcriptomic, computational drug repurposing methodology. Methods: Utilizing the IH-specific dataset GSE127487 from the Gene Expression Omnibus, we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and conducted weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA). Subsequently, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to obtain the top 100 hub genes. Drug candidates were sourced from the Connectivity Map (CMap) and Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). Results: Our analysis revealed 1203 DEGs and a significant module of 1780 mRNAs strongly correlated with IH. These genes were primarily enriched in the PI3K/AKT/MTOR, RAS/MAPK, and CGMP/PKG signaling pathway. After creating a PPI network of overlapping genes, we filtered out the top 100 hub genes. Ultimately, 44 non-toxic drugs were identified through the CMap and CTD databases. Twelve molecular-targeting agents (belinostat, chir 99021, dasatinib, entinostat, panobinostat, sirolimus, sorafenib, sunitinib, thalidomide, U 0126, vorinostat, and wortmannin) may be potential candidates for IH therapy. Moreover, in vitro experiments demonstrated that entinostat, sorafenib, dasatinib, and sirolimus restricted the proliferation and migration and initiated apoptosis in HemEC cells, thereby underscoring their potential therapeutic value. Conclusion: Our investigation revealed that the pathogenic mechanism underlying IH might be closely associated with the PI3K/AKT/MTOR, RAS/MAPK, and CGMP/PKG signaling pathways. Furthermore, we identified twelve molecular-targeting agents among the predicted drugs that show promise as therapeutic candidates for IH.
Plain Language Summary: Transcriptomic analysis used to discover potential therapeutics for Infantile Hemangioma (IH). Key IH-related pathways: PI3K/AKT/MTOR, RAS/MAPK, and CGMP/PKG signaling identified. Identified 44 non-toxic drugs as potential IH therapies via CMap and CTD. Twelve molecular agents show potential as IH therapy candidates. In vitro studies confirmed entinostat, sorafenib, dasatinib, and sirolimus inhibit HemEC cell proliferation and induce apoptosis.
期刊介绍:
Drug Design, Development and Therapy is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal that spans the spectrum of drug design, discovery and development through to clinical applications.
The journal is characterized by the rapid reporting of high-quality original research, reviews, expert opinions, commentary and clinical studies in all therapeutic areas.
Specific topics covered by the journal include:
Drug target identification and validation
Phenotypic screening and target deconvolution
Biochemical analyses of drug targets and their pathways
New methods or relevant applications in molecular/drug design and computer-aided drug discovery*
Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel biologically active compounds (including diagnostics or chemical probes)
Structural or molecular biological studies elucidating molecular recognition processes
Fragment-based drug discovery
Pharmaceutical/red biotechnology
Isolation, structural characterization, (bio)synthesis, bioengineering and pharmacological evaluation of natural products**
Distribution, pharmacokinetics and metabolic transformations of drugs or biologically active compounds in drug development
Drug delivery and formulation (design and characterization of dosage forms, release mechanisms and in vivo testing)
Preclinical development studies
Translational animal models
Mechanisms of action and signalling pathways
Toxicology
Gene therapy, cell therapy and immunotherapy
Personalized medicine and pharmacogenomics
Clinical drug evaluation
Patient safety and sustained use of medicines.