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    Preliminary Virtual Screening Studies to Identify GRP78 Inhibitors Which May Interfere with SARS-CoV-2 Infection
    (MDPI, 2020-01-01) Palmeira, Andreia; Sousa, Emilia; Koseler, Aylin; Sabirli, Ramazan; Goren, Tarik; Turkcuer, Ibrahim; Kurt, Ozgur; Pinto, Madalena M.; Helena Vasconcelos, M.
    SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein was predicted by molecular docking to bind the host cell surface GRP78, which was suggested as a putative good molecular target to inhibit Covid-19. We aimed to confirm that GRP78 gene expression was increased in blood of SARS-CoV-2 (+) versus SARS-CoV-2 (-) pneumonia patients. In addition, we aimed to identify drugs that could be repurposed to inhibit GRP78, thus with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. Gene expression studies were performed in 10 SARS-CoV-2 (-) and 24 SARS-CoV-2 (+) pneumonia patients. A structure-based virtual screen was performed with 10,761 small molecules retrieved from DrugBank, using the GRP78 nucleotide binding domain and substrate binding domain as molecular targets. Results indicated that GRP78 mRNA levels were approximately four times higher in the blood of SARS-CoV-2 (+) versus SARS-CoV-2 (-) pneumonia patients, further suggesting that GRP78 might be a good molecular target to treat Covid-19. In addition, a total of 409 compounds were identified with potential as GRP78 inhibitors. In conclusion, we found preliminary evidence that further proposes GRP78 as a possible molecular target to treat Covid-19 and that many clinically approved drugs bind GRP78 as an off-target effect. We suggest that further work should be urgently carried out to confirm if GRP78 is indeed a good molecular target and if some of those drugs have potential to be repurposed for SARS-CoV-2 antiviral activity.
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    Differential expression of full-length and NH2 terminally truncated FAM134B isoforms in normal physiology and cancer
    (AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC, 2020-01-01) Keles, Umur; Iscan, Evin; Yilmaz, Huriye Erbak; Karakulah, Gokhan; Suner, Asli; Bal, Erhan; Tasdemir, Nilgun; Cavga, Ayse Derya; Ekin, Umut; Mutlu, Zeynep; Kahyaoglu, Sila; Serdar, Muhittin A.; Atabey, Nese; Ozturk, Mehmet
    Selective autophagy of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), namely ER-phagy, is mediated by ER-localized receptors, which are recognized and sequestered by GABARAP/LC3B-decorated phagophores and transferred to lysosomes for degradation. Being one such receptor, FAM134B plays critical roles in cellular processes such as protein quality control and neuronal survival. FAM134B has also been associated with different cancers, although its exact role remains elusive. We report here that the FAM134B gene encodes not one but at least two different protein isoforms: the full-length and the NH2 terminally truncated forms. Their relative expression shows extreme variation, both within normal tissues and among cancer types. Expression of full-length FAM134B is restricted to the brain, testis, spleen, and prostate. In contrast, NH2 terminally truncated FAM134B is dominant in the heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, pancreas, and liver. We compared wild-type and knockout mice to study the role of the Fam134b gene in starvation. NH2 terminally truncated FAM134B-2 was induced in the liver, skeletal muscle, and heart but not in the pancreas and stomach following starvation. Upon starvation, Fam134b(-/-) mice differed from wild-type mice by less weight loss and less hyperaminoacidemic and hypocalcemic response but increased levels of serum albumin, total serum proteins, and a-amylase. Interestingly, either NH2 terminally truncated FAM134B or both isoforms were downregulated in liver, lung, and colon cancers. In contrast, upregulation was observed in stomach and chromophobe kidney cancers. NEW \& NOTEWORTHY We reported tissues expressing FAM134B2 such as the kidney, muscle, heart, and pancreas, some of which exhibit stimulated expression upon nutrient starvation. We also demonstrated the effect of Fam134b deletion during ad libitum and starvation conditions. Resistance to weight loss and hypocalcemia, accompanied by an increase in serum albumin and alpha-amylase levels, indicate critical roles of Fam134b in physiology. Furthermore, the differential expression of FAM134B isoforms was shown to be significantly dysregulated in human cancers.