Identification of key genes as potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets for comorbidity of myasthenia gravis and COVID-19

Liyan Huang; Yao Zuo; Hui Yang; Xiaofang He; Lin Zhang

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1334131

Identification of key genes as potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets for comorbidity of myasthenia gravis and COVID-19

Front Neurol. 2024 Feb 7:14:1334131. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1334131. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Liyan Huang¹, Yao Zuo^{2

3}, Hui Yang⁴, Xiaofang He⁵, Lin Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
³ China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing Bo'ai Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, China.
⁵ Department of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disorder. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a significant impact on the health and quality of life of MG patients and may even trigger the onset of MG in some cases. With the worldwide development of the COVID-19 vaccination, several new-onset MG cases and exacerbations following the COVID-19 vaccines have been acknowledged. The potential link between myasthenia gravis (MG) and COVID-19 has prompted the need for further investigation into the underlying molecular mechanism.

Methods and results: The differential expression analysis identified six differentially expressed genes (DEGs) shared by myasthenia gravis (MG) and COVID-19, namely SAMD9, PLEK, GZMB, JUNB, NR4A1, and NR1D1. The relationship between the six common genes and immune cells was investigated in the COVID-19 dataset. The predictive value of the shared genes was assessed and a nomogram was constructed using machine learning algorithms. The regulatory miRNAs, transcription factors and small molecular drugs were predicted, and the molecular docking was carried out by AutoDock.

Discussion: We have identified six common DEGs of MG and COVID-19 and explored their immunological effects and regulatory mechanisms. The result may provide new insights for further mechanism research.

Keywords: COVID-19; autoimmunity; gene expression profiles; myasthenia gravis; pathological mechanisms.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82060863), the growth project of young scientific and technological talents of Department of Education of the Guizhou Province ([2021]206), the Science and Technology projects of Guizhou Province (Qiankeheji-zk [2021] General 500), and the Special Topics of Scientific and Technological Research of Traditional Chinese (GZEYK[2020]11).