Abstract:
This study aimed to identify significant gene expression profiles of the human lung epithelial
cells caused by SARS-CoV-2 infections. We performed a comparative genomic analysis to
show genomic observations between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. A phylogenetic tree has
been carried for genomic analysis that confirmed the genomic variance between SARS-CoV
and SARS-CoV-2. Transcriptomic analyses have been performed for SARS-CoV-2 infection
responses and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients’ lungs as a number of patients
have been identified who faced PAH after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Gene expression
profiling showed significant expression levels for SARS-CoV-2 infection responses to human
lung epithelial cells and PAH lungs as well. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
identification and integration showed concordant genes (SAA2, S100A9, S100A8, SAA1,
S100A12, and EDN1) for both SARS-CoV-2 and PAH samples including S100A9 and
S100A8 genes that showed significant interaction in the Protein-protein interactions (PPIs)
network. Extensive analyses of Gene ontology and signaling pathways identification provided
evidence of inflammatory responses regarding SARS-CoV-2 infections. The altered signaling
and ontology pathways that have emerged from this research may influence the development
of effective drugs especially for the people with pre-existing conditions. Identification of
regulatory bio-molecules revealed the presence of active promoter gene of SARS-CoV-2 in
TF-miRNA coregulatory network. Predictive drug analyses provided concordant drug
compounds that are associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection responses and PAH lung samples
and these compounds showed significant immune response against the RNA viruses like
SARS-CoV-2, which is beneficial in therapeutic development in the COVID-19 pandemic.
