Network pharmacology strategy for predicting the correlation of Systemic Scleroderma with Vitamin D deficiency
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY
Authors: Li, Shizhe; Wang, Yeming; Zhang, Chaoqun
Abstract
The deficiency of Vitamin D (V-D) is a common symptom of systemic scleroderma (SSc), but the correlation of V-D deficiency and SSc is not completely clear. Therefore, a strategy based on network pharmacology was designed to explore the correlation of V-D deficiency and SSc. After a series of network construction and analysis, 5 in tegrins were predicated as the kernel targets in the correlation of V-D deficiency and SSc, including ITGA5, ITGA4, ITGB3, ITGB1 and ITGAV. The crucial pathways in which the kernel targets participated were mainly involved in the function of immune, vascular and internal organ. The regulation modules of crucial pathways were closely related to the biological processes in the pathological of SSc. Taken together, the analysis predicted that the deficiency of V-D might affect the pathological of SSc through the mediation of these integrins. Therefore, targeted regulation of these integrins might be an effective therapy against SSc.
Prognostic value of integrin variants and expression in postoperative patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma
ONCOTARGET
Authors: Shang, Liming; Ye, Xinping; Zhu, Guangzhi; Su, Hao; Su, Zhixiong; Chen, Bin; Xiao, Kaiyin; Li, Lequn; Peng, Minhao; Peng, Tao
Abstract
Integrins are a large family of cell surface receptors that bind extracellular matrix proteins and participate in cancer progression. However, the prognostic value of integrin family genes in post-operative patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. In this study, we investigated 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in integrin family genes and found that the AG/GG genotypes at rs988574 in ITGA1 predicted a better prognosis compared to carriers of the AA genotype (P = 0.025, HR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.50-0.96). Moreover, rs988574 genotype combined with serum level of AFP had a better prognostic value in HBV-related HCC patients (P = 0.026, HR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.07-2.85). Furthermore, we compared the expression of 24 integrin family genes in HBV-related HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. Survival analysis demonstrated that expression of three of the family members, ITGA5, ITGB5 and ITGA2B, were significantly associated with the overall survival (OS) or relapse-free survival (RFS) of HBV-related HCC patients. Additionally, patients with lower expression of both ITGA5 and ITGB5 had the best OS and RFS (P = 0.017 and P = 0.002, respectively). Our study demonstrated that rs988574 of ITGA1 and the expression of ITGA5, ITGB5 and ITGA2B are potential independent prognostic bio-markers and therapeutic targets for HBV-related HCC patients and may be useful for the diagnosis of HBV-related HCC.