Protein-coding gene interaction network prediction of bioactive plant compound action against SARS-CoV-2: a novel hypothesis using bioinformatics analysis

• Autor(a) principal: Eliane Macedo Sobrinho Santos
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Anna Christina de Almeida, Hércules Otacilio Santos, Ernane Ronie Martins, Francine Souza Alves da Fonseca, Lucyana Conceição Farias, Charles Martins Aguilar, Ulisses Alves Pereira, Nilson Nicolau Junior, Matheus de Souza Gomes, Cintya Neves de Souza, João Matheus de Almeida Ravnjak, Raphael Rodrigues Porto
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202220201380; http://hdl.handle.net/1843/59998; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1576-4957; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9836-4117; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5399-9522; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6139-7206; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5815-4550; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5451-140X; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7180-049X; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9010-8442; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7148-5813; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7352-3089; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3640-8636; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5308-682X; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1603-9615
• topic: Genética; Plantas dos cerrados; Coronavirus; COVID-19 (Doença); Plantas medicinais

This study aimed to verify the action of bioactive compounds from Brazilian plants on the leader genes involved in the SARS-CoV-2 pathway. The main human genes involved were identified in GeneCards and UNIPROT platforms, and an interaction network between leader genes was established in the STRING database. To design chemo-biology interactome networks and elucidate the interplay between genes related to the disease and bioactive plant compounds, the metasearch engine STITCH 3.1 was used. The analysis revealed that SMAD3 and CASP3 genes are leader genes, suggesting that the mechanism of action of the virus on host cells is associated with the molecular effects of these genes. Furthermore, the bioactive plant compounds, such as ascorbate, benzoquinone, ellagic acid, and resveratrol was identified as a promising adjuvant for the treatment inhibiting CASP3-mediated apoptosis. Bioactive plant compounds were verified as the main pathways enriched with KEGG and related to viral infection, assessments/immune/infections, and cell proliferation, which are potentially used for respiratory viral infections. The best-ranked molecule docked in the CASP3 binding site was rutin, while the SMAD3 binding site was resveratrol. In conclusion, this work identified several bioactive compounds from Brazilian plants showing potential antiviral functions that can directly or indirectly inhibit the new coronavirus.