Integrative computational approach identifies drug targets in CD4+ T-cell-mediated immune disorders

Abstract CD4+ T cells provide adaptive immunity against pathogens and abnormal cells, and they are also associated with various immune-related diseases. CD4+ T cells’ metabolism is dysregulated in these pathologies and represents an opportunity for drug discovery and development. Genome-scale metabo...

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Autores principales: Bhanwar Lal Puniya, Rada Amin, Bailee Lichter, Robert Moore, Alex Ciurej, Sydney J. Bennett, Ab Rauf Shah, Matteo Barberis, Tomáš Helikar
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/feccf126d97a4809abc489b6ac51bfe1
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Sumario:Abstract CD4+ T cells provide adaptive immunity against pathogens and abnormal cells, and they are also associated with various immune-related diseases. CD4+ T cells’ metabolism is dysregulated in these pathologies and represents an opportunity for drug discovery and development. Genome-scale metabolic modeling offers an opportunity to accelerate drug discovery by providing high-quality information about possible target space in the context of a modeled disease. Here, we develop genome-scale models of naïve, Th1, Th2, and Th17 CD4+ T-cell subtypes to map metabolic perturbations in rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and primary biliary cholangitis. We subjected these models to in silico simulations for drug response analysis of existing FDA-approved drugs and compounds. Integration of disease-specific differentially expressed genes with altered reactions in response to metabolic perturbations identified 68 drug targets for the three autoimmune diseases. In vitro experimental validation, together with literature-based evidence, showed that modulation of fifty percent of identified drug targets suppressed CD4+ T cells, further increasing their potential impact as therapeutic interventions. Our approach can be generalized in the context of other diseases, and the metabolic models can be further used to dissect CD4+ T-cell metabolism.