Prediction of SARS-CoV interaction with host proteins during lung aging reveals a potential role for TRIB3 in COVID-19

Diogo de Moraes; Brunno Vivone Buquete Paiva; Sarah Santiloni Cury; João Pessoa Araújo Junior; Marcelo Alves da Silva Mori; Robson Francisco Carvalho

SARS-CoV-2 requires host cellular factors for successful infection and replication 7 . For example, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the receptor for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) for viral attachment 7, 8 . The conserved evolutionary relationship between the 2019 novel SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV 9 opens up the possibility to explore the relationships between these human coronaviruses (HCoVs) in public databases. Computational predictions of SARS-CoV-human protein-protein interactions (PPIs) may identify mechanisms of viral infection and drug targets [9] [10] [11] . In this context, the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database 12, 13 has provided insights into age-related genes 14, 15 and, associated with single-cell transcriptomics, could predict SARS-CoV-2-PPIs in aging lungs. This characterization is crucial for older adults, which are more vulnerable to the disease [16] [17] [18] . Thus, we analyzed whether lung aging is associated with transcriptional changes in proteins that potentially interact with SARS-CoV-2.