Study the effects of Transcription Factors on Human Proteins
interacting with Spike Glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2

Daniele Santoni^1,+, Nimisha Ghosh^2,3,+, Carlo Derelitto^1,4, Indrajit Saha^5,*

¹Institute for System Analysis and Computer Science "Antonio Ruberti", National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy
²Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
³Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, Institute of Technical Education and Research,
Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar, India
⁴Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BIGEA), Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
⁵Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technical Teachers' Training and Research, Kolkata, India
*Correspondence should be addressed to team leader : indrajit@nitttrkol.ac.in
⁺These team members contributed equally to this work

ABSTRACT

SARS-CoV-2 and its many variants have caused worldwide emergency. As transcription factors (TFs) regulate the expression of host and virus genes, it is imperative to understand the effects that TFs may have on human proteins which in turn interact with virus proteins. In this regard, we have identified 19 TFs which target human proteins interacting with Spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. Thereafter, a transcriptomics RNA-Seq data for the corresponding human genes and the TFs of both COVID-19 afflicted and healthy individuals are considered for 13 organs. Subsequently, correlation between the TFs and the corresponding genes for each organ is calculated considering Bonferroni correction on the corresponding p-values. This resulted in the identification of the most important TFs and most affected organs as well. The 5 organs thus identified are blood, heart, lung, nasopharynx and respiratory tract. Furthermore, 31 key human genes differentially regulated by the TFs in the 5 organs are identified and the corresponding KEGG pathways and GO enrichment are also reported. Finally, the drugs targeting those 31 genes are also put forth. This in silico study explores the effects of TFs on human genes interacting with Spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 and intends to provide a different approach to inhibit the virus.