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Vijayakumar S, DiGuiseppi JA, Dabestani PJ, Ryan WG, Quevedo RV, Li Y, Diers J, Tu S, Fleegel J, Nguyen C, Rhoda LM, Imami AS, Hamoud ARA, Lovas S, McCullumsmith RE, Zallocchi M, Zuo J. In silico transcriptome screens identify epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors as therapeutics for noise-induced hearing loss. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadk2299. [PMID: 38896614 PMCID: PMC11186505 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk2299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a common sensorineural hearing impairment that lacks U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs. To fill the gap in effective screening models, we used an in silico transcriptome-based drug screening approach, identifying 22 biological pathways and 64 potential small molecule treatments for NIHL. Two of these, afatinib and zorifertinib [epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors], showed efficacy in zebrafish and mouse models. Further tests with EGFR knockout mice and EGF-morpholino zebrafish confirmed their protective role against NIHL. Molecular studies in mice highlighted EGFR's crucial involvement in NIHL and the protective effect of zorifertinib. When given orally, zorifertinib was found in the perilymph with favorable pharmacokinetics. In addition, zorifertinib combined with AZD5438 (a cyclin-dependent kinase 2 inhibitor) synergistically prevented NIHL in zebrafish. Our results underscore the potential for in silico transcriptome-based drug screening in diseases lacking efficient models and suggest EGFR inhibitors as potential treatments for NIHL, meriting clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarath Vijayakumar
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Joseph A. DiGuiseppi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Parinaz Jila Dabestani
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - William G. Ryan
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA.
| | - Rene Vielman Quevedo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Yuju Li
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Jack Diers
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Shu Tu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Jonathan Fleegel
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Cassidy Nguyen
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Lauren M. Rhoda
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Ali Sajid Imami
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA.
| | | | - Sándor Lovas
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Robert E. McCullumsmith
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA.
- Neurosciences Institute, ProMedica, Toledo, OH 43606, USA
| | - Marisa Zallocchi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Jian Zuo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
- Ting Therapeutics, University of California San Diego, 9310 Athena Circle, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
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Vijayakumar S, DiGuiseppi JA, Dabestani J, Ryan WG, Vielman Quevedo R, Li Y, Diers J, Tu S, Fleegel J, Nguyen C, Rhoda LM, Imami AS, Hamoud AAR, Lovas S, McCullumsmith R, Zallocchi M, Zuo J. In Silico Transcriptome-based Screens Identify Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors as Therapeutics for Noise-induced Hearing Loss. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.07.544128. [PMID: 37333346 PMCID: PMC10274759 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.07.544128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) represents a widespread disease for which no therapeutics have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Addressing the conspicuous void of efficacious in vitro or animal models for high throughput pharmacological screening, we utilized an in silico transcriptome-oriented drug screening strategy, unveiling 22 biological pathways and 64 promising small molecule candidates for NIHL protection. Afatinib and zorifertinib, both inhibitors of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), were validated for their protective efficacy against NIHL in experimental zebrafish and murine models. This protective effect was further confirmed with EGFR conditional knockout mice and EGF knockdown zebrafish, both demonstrating protection against NIHL. Molecular analysis using Western blot and kinome signaling arrays on adult mouse cochlear lysates unveiled the intricate involvement of several signaling pathways, with particular emphasis on EGFR and its downstream pathways being modulated by noise exposure and Zorifertinib treatment. Administered orally, Zorifertinib was successfully detected in the perilymph fluid of the inner ear in mice with favorable pharmacokinetic attributes. Zorifertinib, in conjunction with AZD5438 - a potent inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinase 2 - produced synergistic protection against NIHL in the zebrafish model. Collectively, our findings underscore the potential application of in silico transcriptome-based drug screening for diseases bereft of efficient screening models and posit EGFR inhibitors as promising therapeutic agents warranting clinical exploration for combatting NIHL. Highlights In silico transcriptome-based drug screens identify pathways and drugs against NIHL.EGFR signaling is activated by noise but reduced by zorifertinib in mouse cochleae.Afatinib, zorifertinib and EGFR knockout protect against NIHL in mice and zebrafish.Orally delivered zorifertinib has inner ear PK and synergizes with a CDK2 inhibitor.
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Su Y, Wu J, Li X, Li J, Zhao X, Pan B, Huang J, Kong Q, Han J. DTSEA: A network-based drug target set enrichment analysis method for drug repurposing against COVID-19. Comput Biol Med 2023; 159:106969. [PMID: 37105108 PMCID: PMC10121077 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.106969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still wreaking havoc worldwide. Therefore, the urgent need for efficient treatments pushes researchers and clinicians into screening effective drugs. Drug repurposing may be a promising and time-saving strategy to identify potential drugs against this disease. Here, we developed a novel computational approach, named Drug Target Set Enrichment Analysis (DTSEA), to identify potent drugs against COVID-19. DTSEA first mapped the disease-related genes into a gene functional interaction network, and then it used a network propagation algorithm to rank all genes in the network by calculating the network proximity of genes to disease-related genes. Finally, an enrichment analysis was performed on drug target sets to prioritize disease-candidate drugs. It was shown that the top three drugs predicted by DTSEA, including Ataluren, Carfilzomib, and Aripiprazole, were significantly enriched in the immune response pathways indicating the potential for use as promising COVID-19 inhibitors. In addition to these drugs, DTSEA also identified several drugs (such as Remdesivir and Olumiant), which have obtained emergency use authorization (EUA) for COVID-19. These results indicated that DTSEA could effectively identify the candidate drugs for COVID-19, which will help to accelerate the development of drugs for COVID-19. We then performed several validations to ensure the reliability and validity of DTSEA, including topological analysis, robustness analysis, and prediction consistency. Collectively, DTSEA successfully predicted candidate drugs against COVID-19 with high accuracy and reliability, thus making it a formidable tool to identify potential drugs for a specific disease and facilitate further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinchun Su
- Department of Neurobiology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China
| | - Jiashuo Wu
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China
| | - Xiangmei Li
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China
| | - Ji Li
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China
| | - Xilong Zhao
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China
| | - Bingyue Pan
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China
| | - Junling Huang
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China
| | - Qingfei Kong
- Department of Neurobiology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China.
| | - Junwei Han
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, PR China.
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