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Zitnik M, Li MM, Wells A, Glass K, Morselli Gysi D, Krishnan A, Murali TM, Radivojac P, Roy S, Baudot A, Bozdag S, Chen DZ, Cowen L, Devkota K, Gitter A, Gosline SJC, Gu P, Guzzi PH, Huang H, Jiang M, Kesimoglu ZN, Koyuturk M, Ma J, Pico AR, Pržulj N, Przytycka TM, Raphael BJ, Ritz A, Sharan R, Shen Y, Singh M, Slonim DK, Tong H, Yang XH, Yoon BJ, Yu H, Milenković T. Current and future directions in network biology. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2024; 4:vbae099. [PMID: 39143982 PMCID: PMC11321866 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbae099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 08/16/2024]
Abstract
Summary Network biology is an interdisciplinary field bridging computational and biological sciences that has proved pivotal in advancing the understanding of cellular functions and diseases across biological systems and scales. Although the field has been around for two decades, it remains nascent. It has witnessed rapid evolution, accompanied by emerging challenges. These stem from various factors, notably the growing complexity and volume of data together with the increased diversity of data types describing different tiers of biological organization. We discuss prevailing research directions in network biology, focusing on molecular/cellular networks but also on other biological network types such as biomedical knowledge graphs, patient similarity networks, brain networks, and social/contact networks relevant to disease spread. In more detail, we highlight areas of inference and comparison of biological networks, multimodal data integration and heterogeneous networks, higher-order network analysis, machine learning on networks, and network-based personalized medicine. Following the overview of recent breakthroughs across these five areas, we offer a perspective on future directions of network biology. Additionally, we discuss scientific communities, educational initiatives, and the importance of fostering diversity within the field. This article establishes a roadmap for an immediate and long-term vision for network biology. Availability and implementation Not applicable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marinka Zitnik
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Michelle M Li
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Aydin Wells
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
- Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
- Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
| | - Kimberly Glass
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Deisy Morselli Gysi
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
- Department of Statistics, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná 81530-015, Brazil
- Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Arjun Krishnan
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, United States
| | - T M Murali
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Predrag Radivojac
- Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Sushmita Roy
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53715, United States
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, Madison, WI 53715, United States
| | - Anaïs Baudot
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, MMG, Marseille, France
| | - Serdar Bozdag
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States
- Department of Mathematics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States
| | - Danny Z Chen
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
| | - Lenore Cowen
- Department of Computer Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States
| | - Kapil Devkota
- Department of Computer Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States
| | - Anthony Gitter
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53715, United States
- Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI 53715, United States
| | - Sara J C Gosline
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Seattle, WA 98109, United States
| | - Pengfei Gu
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
| | - Pietro H Guzzi
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, 88100, Italy
| | - Heng Huang
- Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD 20742, United States
| | - Meng Jiang
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
| | - Ziynet Nesibe Kesimoglu
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States
- National Center of Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States
| | - Mehmet Koyuturk
- Department of Computer and Data Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States
| | - Jian Ma
- Ray and Stephanie Lane Computational Biology Department, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
| | - Alexander R Pico
- Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, United States
| | - Nataša Pržulj
- Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, England
- ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, 08010, Spain
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Barcelona, 08034, Spain
| | - Teresa M Przytycka
- National Center of Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States
| | - Benjamin J Raphael
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, United States
| | - Anna Ritz
- Department of Biology, Reed College, Portland, OR 97202, United States
| | - Roded Sharan
- School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel
| | - Yang Shen
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States
| | - Mona Singh
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, United States
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, United States
| | - Donna K Slonim
- Department of Computer Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States
| | - Hanghang Tong
- Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
| | - Xinan Holly Yang
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
| | - Byung-Jun Yoon
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States
- Computational Science Initiative, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, United States
| | - Haiyuan Yu
- Department of Computational Biology, Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States
| | - Tijana Milenković
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
- Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
- Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
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Leonard-Duke J, Agro SMJ, Csordas DJ, Bruce AC, Eggertsen TG, Tavakol TN, Barker TH, Bonham CA, Saucerman JJ, Taite LJ, Peirce SM. Multiscale computational model predicts how environmental changes and drug treatments affect microvascular remodeling in fibrotic disease. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.15.585249. [PMID: 38559112 PMCID: PMC10979947 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.15.585249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Investigating the molecular, cellular, and tissue-level changes caused by disease, and the effects of pharmacological treatments across these biological scales, necessitates the use of multiscale computational modeling in combination with experimentation. Many diseases dynamically alter the tissue microenvironment in ways that trigger microvascular network remodeling, which leads to the expansion or regression of microvessel networks. When microvessels undergo remodeling in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), functional gas exchange is impaired due to loss of alveolar structures and lung function declines. Here, we integrated a multiscale computational model with independent experiments to investigate how combinations of biomechanical and biochemical cues in IPF alter cell fate decisions leading to microvascular remodeling. Our computational model predicted that extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffening reduced microvessel area, which was accompanied by physical uncoupling of endothelial cell (ECs) and pericytes, the cells that comprise microvessels. Nintedanib, an FDA-approved drug for treating IPF, was predicted to further potentiate microvessel regression by decreasing the percentage of quiescent pericytes while increasing the percentage of pericytes undergoing pericyte-myofibroblast transition (PMT) in high ECM stiffnesses. Importantly, the model suggested that YAP/TAZ inhibition may overcome the deleterious effects of nintedanib by promoting EC-pericyte coupling and maintaining microvessel homeostasis. Overall, our combination of computational and experimental modeling can explain how cell decisions affect tissue changes during disease and in response to treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Leonard-Duke
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Samuel M. J. Agro
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - David J. Csordas
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Anthony C. Bruce
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Taylor G. Eggertsen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Tara N. Tavakol
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Thomas H. Barker
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Catherine A. Bonham
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Jeffery J. Saucerman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Lakeshia J. Taite
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Shayn M. Peirce
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
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Evangelista-Leite D, Carreira ACO, Nishiyama MY, Gilpin SE, Miglino MA. The molecular mechanisms of extracellular matrix-derived hydrogel therapy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis models. Biomaterials 2023; 302:122338. [PMID: 37820517 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2023.122338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a progressively debilitating lung condition characterized by oxidative stress, cell phenotype shifts, and excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. Recent studies have shown promising results using decellularized ECM-derived hydrogels produced through pepsin digestion in various lung injury models and even a human clinical trial for myocardial infarction. This study aimed to characterize the composition of ECM-derived hydrogels, assess their potential to prevent fibrosis in bleomycin-induced IPF models, and unravel their underlying molecular mechanisms of action. Porcine lungs were decellularized and pepsin-digested for 48 h. The hydrogel production process, including visualization of protein molecular weight distribution and hydrogel gelation, was characterized. Peptidomics analysis of ECM-derived hydrogel contained peptides from 224 proteins. Probable bioactive and cell-penetrating peptides, including collagen IV, laminin beta 2, and actin alpha 1, were identified. ECM-derived hydrogel treatment was administered as an early intervention to prevent fibrosis advancement in rat models of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. ECM-derived hydrogel concentrations of 1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL showed subtle but noticeable effects on reducing lung inflammation, oxidative damage, and protein markers related to fibrosis (e.g., alpha-smooth muscle actin, collagen I). Moreover, distinct changes were observed in macroscopic appearance, alveolar structure, collagen deposition, and protein expression between lungs that received ECM-derived hydrogel and control fibrotic lungs. Proteomic analyses revealed significant protein and gene expression changes related to cellular processes, pathways, and components involved in tissue remodeling, inflammation, and cytoskeleton regulation. RNA sequencing highlighted differentially expressed genes associated with various cellular processes, such as tissue remodeling, hormone secretion, cell chemotaxis, and cytoskeleton engagement. This study suggests that ECM-derived hydrogel treatment influence pathways associated with tissue repair, inflammation regulation, cytoskeleton reorganization, and cellular response to injury, potentially offering therapeutic benefits in preventing or mitigating lung fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Evangelista-Leite
- Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-010, Brazil; School of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-970, Brazil.
| | - Ana C O Carreira
- Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-010, Brazil; NUCEL (Cell and Molecular Therapy Center), School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 05360-130, Brazil; Center for Human and Natural Sciences, Federal University of ABC, Santo André, São Paulo, 09210-580, Brazil.
| | - Milton Y Nishiyama
- Laboratory of Applied Toxinology, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil.
| | - Sarah E Gilpin
- Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-010, Brazil.
| | - Maria A Miglino
- Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-010, Brazil.
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Watts KM, Nichols W, Richardson WJ. Computational screen for sex-specific drug effects in a cardiac fibroblast signaling network model. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17068. [PMID: 37816826 PMCID: PMC10564891 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44440-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women. Cardiac fibrosis is the uncontrolled accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins, which can exacerbate the progression of heart failure, and there are currently no drugs approved specifically to target matrix accumulation in the heart. Computational signaling network models (SNMs) can be used to facilitate discovery of novel drug targets. However, the vast majority of SNMs are not sex-specific and/or are developed and validated using data skewed towards male in vitro and in vivo samples. Biological sex is an important consideration in cardiovascular health and drug development. In this study, we integrate a cardiac fibroblast SNM with estrogen signaling pathways to create sex-specific SNMs. The sex-specific SNMs demonstrated high validation accuracy compared to in vitro experimental studies in the literature while also elucidating how estrogen signaling can modulate the effect of fibrotic cytokines via multi-pathway interactions. Further, perturbation analysis and drug screening uncovered several drug compounds predicted to generate divergent fibrotic responses in male vs. female conditions, which warrant further study in the pursuit of sex-specific treatment recommendations for cardiac fibrosis. Future model development and validation will require more generation of sex-specific data to further enhance modeling capabilities for clinically relevant sex-specific predictions of cardiac fibrosis and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey M Watts
- Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA.
| | - Wesley Nichols
- Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA
| | - William J Richardson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA
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5
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Dautle M, Zhang S, Chen Y. scTIGER: A Deep-Learning Method for Inferring Gene Regulatory Networks from Case versus Control scRNA-seq Datasets. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:13339. [PMID: 37686146 PMCID: PMC10488287 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241713339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2023] [Revised: 08/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Inferring gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data is an important computational question to find regulatory mechanisms involved in fundamental cellular processes. Although many computational methods have been designed to predict GRNs from scRNA-seq data, they usually have high false positive rates and none infer GRNs by directly using the paired datasets of case-versus-control experiments. Here we present a novel deep-learning-based method, named scTIGER, for GRN detection by using the co-differential relationships of gene expression profiles in paired scRNA-seq datasets. scTIGER employs cell-type-based pseudotiming, an attention-based convolutional neural network method and permutation-based significance testing for inferring GRNs among gene modules. As state-of-the-art applications, we first applied scTIGER to scRNA-seq datasets of prostate cancer cells, and successfully identified the dynamic regulatory networks of AR, ERG, PTEN and ATF3 for same-cell type between prostatic cancerous and normal conditions, and two-cell types within the prostatic cancerous environment. We then applied scTIGER to scRNA-seq data from neurons with and without fear memory and detected specific regulatory networks for BDNF, CREB1 and MAPK4. Additionally, scTIGER demonstrates robustness against high levels of dropout noise in scRNA-seq data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madison Dautle
- Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA;
| | - Shaoqiang Zhang
- College of Computer and Information Engineering, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Yong Chen
- Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA;
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Figueroa M, Hall S, Mattia V, Mendoza A, Brown A, Xiong Y, Mukherjee R, Jones JA, Richardson W, Ruddy JM. Vascular smooth muscle cell mechanotransduction through serum and glucocorticoid inducible kinase-1 promotes interleukin-6 production and macrophage accumulation in murine hypertension. JVS Vasc Sci 2023; 4:100124. [PMID: 37920479 PMCID: PMC10618507 DOI: 10.1016/j.jvssci.2023.100124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective The objective of this investigation was to demonstrate that in vivo induction of hypertension (HTN) and in vitro cyclic stretch of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) can cause serum and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK-1)-dependent production of cytokines to promote macrophage accumulation that may promote vascular pathology. Methods HTN was induced in C57Bl/6 mice with angiotensin II infusion (1.46 mg/kg/day × 21 days) with or without systemic infusion of EMD638683 (2.5 mg/kg/day × 21 days), a selective SGK-1 inhibitor. Systolic blood pressure was recorded. Abdominal aortas were harvested to quantify SGK-1 activity (pSGK-1/SGK-1) by immunoblot. Flow cytometry quantified the abundance of CD11b+/F480+ cells (macrophages). Plasma interleukin (IL)-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Aortic VSMCs from wild-type mice were subjected to 12% biaxial cyclic stretch (Stretch) for 3 or 12 hours with or without EMD638683 (10 μM) and with or without SGK-1 small interfering RNA with subsequent quantitative polymerase chain reaction for IL-6 and MCP-1 expression. IL-6 and MCP-1 in culture media were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Aortic VSMCs from SGK-1flox+/+ mice were transfected with Cre-Adenovirus to knockdown SGK-1 (SGK-1KD VSMCs) and underwent parallel tension experimentation. Computational modeling was used to simulate VSMC signaling. Statistical analysis included analysis of variance with significance at a P value of <.05. Results SGK-1 activity, abundance of CD11b+/F4-80+ cells, and plasma IL-6 were increased in the abdominal aorta of mice with HTN and significantly reduced by treatment with EMD638683. This outcome mirrored the increased abundance of IL-6 in media from Stretch C57Bl/6 VSMCs and attenuation of the effect with EMD638683 or SGK-1 small interfering RNA. C57Bl/6 VSMCs also responded to Stretch with increased MCP-1 expression and secretion into the culture media. Further supporting the integral role of mechanical signaling through SGK-1, target gene expression and cytokine secretion was unchanged in SGK-1KD VSMCs with Stretch, and computer modeling confirmed SGK-1 as an intersecting node of signaling owing to mechanical strain and angiotensin II. Conclusions Mechanical activation of SGK-1 in aortic VSMCs can promote inflammatory signaling and increased macrophage abundance, therefore this kinase warrants further exploration as a pharmacotherapeutic target to abrogate hypertensive vascular pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Figueroa
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - SarahRose Hall
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - Victoria Mattia
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - Alex Mendoza
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - Adam Brown
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - Ying Xiong
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - Rupak Mukherjee
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - Jeffrey A. Jones
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
- Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC
| | - William Richardson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AK
| | - Jean Marie Ruddy
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
- Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC
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Tian Y, Wang Z, Liang F, Wang Y. Identifying Immune Cell Infiltration and Hub Genes During the Myocardial Remodeling Process After Myocardial Infarction. J Inflamm Res 2023; 16:2893-2906. [PMID: 37456781 PMCID: PMC10349602 DOI: 10.2147/jir.s416914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Myocardial remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) is a complex repair process following myocardial injury, characterized by the infiltration of multiple types of immune cells. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of myocardial remodeling after MI remains obscure. This study aimed to identify the hub differential expression genes (DEGs) of myocardial remodeling after MI and determine the distribution of immune cells infiltrating the pathology. Methods We downloaded GSE132143, GSE151834, and GSE176092 data from the GEO database. The GSE132143 dataset was used to identify DEGs, perform functional annotation, and screen hub genes based on protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis. The GSE151834 dataset was used to validate the expression of hub genes. CIBERSORTx analysis was performed to explore the immune microenvironment in myocardial remodeling after MI. After conducting a literature review, we selected P3H3 to confirm the expression by utilizing immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR. Finally, the snRNA-seq data in dataset GSE176092 was used for clarifying the expression of these hub genes in various cell clusters. Results We found 975 DEGs in myocardial remodeling after MI. Four hub genes (P3H3, COL15A1, COL16A1, COL27A1) were identified and were verified in the GSE151834 dataset. According to immune infiltration analysis, CD4+ naive T cells, regulatory T cells, monocytes, M2 macrophages, and neutrophils were involved in the pathological process of myocardial remodeling after MI. Additionally, in vitro experiments verified that P3h3 expression was significantly elevated in myocardial remodeling after MI. The snRNA-seq data analyzed that P3h3, Col15a1, Col16a1, and Col27a1 were highly expressed in fibroblasts of post-MI. Conclusion This study identified four hub genes P3H3, COL15A1, COL16A1, and COL27A1, particularly P3H3, as potential targets for targeted therapy in MI patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Tian
- Department of Cardiology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200080, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zilin Wang
- Department of Radiology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200080, People’s Republic of China
| | - Feng Liang
- Heart Center, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200080, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yi Wang
- Department of Cardiology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200080, People’s Republic of China
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Bazgir F, Nau J, Nakhaei-Rad S, Amin E, Wolf MJ, Saucerman JJ, Lorenz K, Ahmadian MR. The Microenvironment of the Pathogenesis of Cardiac Hypertrophy. Cells 2023; 12:1780. [PMID: 37443814 PMCID: PMC10341218 DOI: 10.3390/cells12131780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is a key risk factor for the development of heart failure and predisposes individuals to cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death. While physiological cardiac hypertrophy is adaptive, hypertrophy resulting from conditions comprising hypertension, aortic stenosis, or genetic mutations, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is maladaptive. Here, we highlight the essential role and reciprocal interactions involving both cardiomyocytes and non-myocardial cells in response to pathological conditions. Prolonged cardiovascular stress causes cardiomyocytes and non-myocardial cells to enter an activated state releasing numerous pro-hypertrophic, pro-fibrotic, and pro-inflammatory mediators such as vasoactive hormones, growth factors, and cytokines, i.e., commencing signaling events that collectively cause cardiac hypertrophy. Fibrotic remodeling is mediated by cardiac fibroblasts as the central players, but also endothelial cells and resident and infiltrating immune cells enhance these processes. Many of these hypertrophic mediators are now being integrated into computational models that provide system-level insights and will help to translate our knowledge into new pharmacological targets. This perspective article summarizes the last decades' advances in cardiac hypertrophy research and discusses the herein-involved complex myocardial microenvironment and signaling components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farhad Bazgir
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (F.B.); (J.N.)
| | - Julia Nau
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (F.B.); (J.N.)
| | - Saeideh Nakhaei-Rad
- Stem Cell Biology, and Regenerative Medicine Research Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad 91779-48974, Iran;
| | - Ehsan Amin
- Institute of Neural and Sensory Physiology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany;
| | - Matthew J. Wolf
- Department of Medicine and Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA;
| | - Jeffry J. Saucerman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA;
| | - Kristina Lorenz
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Würzburg, Leibniz Institute for Analytical Sciences, 97078 Würzburg, Germany;
| | - Mohammad Reza Ahmadian
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (F.B.); (J.N.)
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Van de Graaf MW, Eggertsen TG, Zeigler AC, Tan PM, Saucerman JJ. Benchmarking of protein interaction databases for integration with manually reconstructed signalling network models. J Physiol 2023:10.1113/JP284616. [PMID: 37199469 PMCID: PMC11073820 DOI: 10.1113/jp284616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein interaction databases are critical resources for network bioinformatics and integrating molecular experimental data. Interaction databases may also enable construction of predictive computational models of biological networks, although their fidelity for this purpose is not clear. Here, we benchmark protein interaction databases X2K, Reactome, Pathway Commons, Omnipath and Signor for their ability to recover manually curated edges from three logic-based network models of cardiac hypertrophy, mechano-signalling and fibrosis. Pathway Commons performed best at recovering interactions from manually reconstructed hypertrophy (137 of 193 interactions, 71%), mechano-signalling (85 of 125 interactions, 68%) and fibroblast networks (98 of 142 interactions, 69%). While protein interaction databases successfully recovered central, well-conserved pathways, they performed worse at recovering tissue-specific and transcriptional regulation. This highlights a knowledge gap where manual curation is critical. Finally, we tested the ability of Signor and Pathway Commons to identify new edges that improve model predictions, revealing important roles of protein kinase C autophosphorylation and Ca2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II phosphorylation of CREB in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. This study provides a platform for benchmarking protein interaction databases for their utility in network model construction, as well as providing new insights into cardiac hypertrophy signalling. KEY POINTS: Protein interaction databases are used to recover signalling interactions from previously developed network models. The five protein interaction databases benchmarked recovered well-conserved pathways, but did poorly at recovering tissue-specific pathways and transcriptional regulation, indicating the importance of manual curation. We identify new signalling interactions not previously used in the network models, including a role for Ca2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II phosphorylation of CREB in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew W. Van de Graaf
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Children’s National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Taylor G. Eggertsen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Angela C. Zeigler
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Philip M. Tan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Jeffrey J. Saucerman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
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10
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Watts KM, Nichols W, Richardson WJ. Computational Screen for Sex-Specific Drug Effects in a Cardiac Fibroblast Network Model. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.11.536523. [PMID: 37090681 PMCID: PMC10120687 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.11.536523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women. Cardiac fibrosis is the uncontrolled accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins which can exacerbate the progression of heart failure, and there are currently no drugs approved specifically to target matrix accumulation in the heart. Computational signaling network models (SNMs) can be used to facilitate discovery of novel drug targets. However, the vast majority of SNMs are not sex-specific and/or are developed and validated using data skewed towards male in vitro and in vivo samples. Biological sex is an important consideration in cardiovascular health and drug development. In this study, we integrate a previously constructed cardiac fibroblast SNM with estrogen signaling pathways to create sex-specific SNMs. The sex-specific SNMs maintained previously high validation when compared to in vitro experimental studies in the literature. A sex-specific perturbation analysis and drug screen uncovered several potential pathways that warrant further study in the pursuit of sex-specific treatment recommendations for cardiac fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey M Watts
- Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Wesley Nichols
- Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - William J Richardson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
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11
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Vogt BJ, Peters DK, Anseth KS, Aguado BA. Inflammatory serum factors from aortic valve stenosis patients modulate sex differences in valvular myofibroblast activation and osteoblast-like differentiation. Biomater Sci 2022; 10:6341-6353. [PMID: 36226463 PMCID: PMC9741081 DOI: 10.1039/d2bm00844k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) is a sexually dimorphic cardiovascular disease that is driven by fibrosis and calcification of the aortic valve leaflets. Circulating inflammatory factors present in serum from AVS patients contribute to sex differences in valve fibro-calcification by driving the activation of valvular interstitial cells (VICs) to myofibroblasts and/or osteoblast-like cells. However, the molecular mechanisms by which inflammatory factors contribute to sex-specific valve fibro-calcification remain largely unknown. In this study, we identified inflammatory factors present in serum samples from AVS patients that regulate sex-specific myofibroblast activation and osteoblast-like differentiation. After correlating serum proteomic datasets with clinical and in vitro myofibroblast datasets, we identified annexin A2 and cystatin C as candidate inflammatory factors that correlate with both AVS patient severity and myofibroblast activation measurements in vitro. Validation experiments utilizing hydrogel biomaterials as cell culture platforms that mimic the valve extracellular matrix confirmed that annexin A2 and cystatin C promote sex-specific VIC activation to myofibroblasts via p38 MAPK signaling. Additionally, annexin A2 and cystatin C increase osteoblast-like differentiation primarily in male VICs. Our results implicate serum inflammatory factors as potential AVS biomarkers that also contribute to sexually dimorphic AVS progression by driving VIC myofibroblast activation and/or osteoblast-like differentiation. Collectively, the results herein further our overall understanding as to how biological sex may impact inflammation-driven AVS and may lead to the development of sex-specific drug treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon J Vogt
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
- Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80303, USA
| | - Douglas K Peters
- BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Kristi S Anseth
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80303, USA
- BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Brian A Aguado
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
- Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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12
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Li XZ, Xiong ZC, Zhang SL, Hao QY, Gao M, Wang JF, Gao JW, Liu PM. Potential ferroptosis key genes in calcific aortic valve disease. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022; 9:916841. [PMID: 36003913 PMCID: PMC9395208 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.916841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is a highly prevalent condition that comprises a disease continuum, ranging from microscopic changes to profound fibro-calcific leaflet remodeling, culminating in aortic stenosis, heart failure, and ultimately premature death. Ferroptosis has been hypothesized to contribute to the pathogenesis of CAVD. We aimed to study the association between ferroptosis genes and CAVD and reveal the potential roles of ferroptosis in CAVD. CAVD-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified via bioinformatic analysis of Datasets GSE51472 and GSE12644 obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus. A ferroptosis dataset containing 259 genes was obtained from the Ferroptosis Database. We then intersected with CAVD-related DEGs to identify the ferroptosis DEGs. Subsequently, protein–protein interaction networks and functional enrichment analyses were performed for ferroptosis DEGs. Then, we used miRWalk3.0 to predict the target pivotal microRNAs. An in vitro model of CAVD was constructed using human aortic valve interstitial cells. The qRT-PCR and western blotting methods were used to validate the ferroptosis DEGs identified by the microarray data. A total of 21 ferroptosis DEGs in CAVD containing 12 upregulated and nine downregulated genes were identified. The results of the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and analysis of the KEGG pathway by WebGestalt indicated that the ferroptosis DEGs were enriched in six signaling pathways among which NAFLD (including IL-6, BID, and PRKAA2 genes) and HIF-1 (including IL-6, HIF-1, and HMOX1 genes) signaling pathways were also verified by DAVID and/or Metascape. Finally, the in vitro results showed that the mRNA and protein expression levels of IL-6, HIF-1α, HMOX1, and BID were higher, while the levels of PRKAA2 were lower in the Pi-treated group than those in the control group. However, the addition of ferrostatin-1 (a selective ferroptosis inhibitor) significantly reversed the above changes. Therefore, IL-6, HIF-1α, HMOX1, BID, and PRKAA2 are potential key genes closely associated with ferroptosis in CAVD. Further work is required to explore the underlying ferroptosis-related molecular mechanisms and provide possible therapeutic targets for CAVD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiong-Zhi Li
- Department of Cardiology, Guangzhou Key Laboratory on the Molecular Mechanisms of Major Cardiovascular Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhuo-Chao Xiong
- Department of Cardiology, Guangzhou Key Laboratory on the Molecular Mechanisms of Major Cardiovascular Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shao-Ling Zhang
- Department of Endocrinology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qing-Yun Hao
- Department of Cardiology, Guangzhou Key Laboratory on the Molecular Mechanisms of Major Cardiovascular Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ming Gao
- Department of Radiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jing-Feng Wang
- Department of Cardiology, Guangzhou Key Laboratory on the Molecular Mechanisms of Major Cardiovascular Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jing-Wei Gao
- Department of Cardiology, Guangzhou Key Laboratory on the Molecular Mechanisms of Major Cardiovascular Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Jing-Wei Gao
| | - Pin-Ming Liu
- Department of Cardiology, Guangzhou Key Laboratory on the Molecular Mechanisms of Major Cardiovascular Disease, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Pin-Ming Liu
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13
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Coeyman SJ, Richardson WJ, Bradshaw AD. Mechanics & Matrix: Positive Feedback Loops between Fibroblasts and ECM Drive Interstitial Cardiac Fibrosis. CURRENT OPINION IN PHYSIOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cophys.2022.100560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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