Using a Network-Based Analysis Approach to Investigate the Involvement of S. aureus in the Pathogenesis of Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 3; p. 1822
• Main Authors: Rowland, Gregory, Kronbichler, Andreas, Smith, Rona, Jayne, David, van der Graaf, Piet H., Chelliah, Vijayalakshmi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.01.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis - diagnosis; Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic; Disease; Gene expression; Genomes; Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis - diagnosis; Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis - genetics; Humans; Immunosuppressive agents; Inflammatory diseases; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Myeloblastin; Nose Diseases; Pathogenesis; Pathogens; Patients; Staphylococcal Infections; Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Trends; Vein & artery diseases; Virulence; granulomatosis with polyangiitis; disease network; network-based analysis; ANCA associated vasculitis; molecular signatures; biological processes; Staphylococcus aureus
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms24031822
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596

Chronic nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) has been shown to be significantly higher in GPA patients when compared to healthy subjects, as well as being associated with increased endonasal activity and disease relapse. The aim of this study was to investigate SA involvement in GPA by applying a network-based analysis (NBA) approach to publicly available nasal transcriptomic data. Using these data, our NBA pipeline generated a proteinase 3 (PR3) positive ANCA associated vasculitis (AAV) disease network integrating differentially expressed genes, dysregulated transcription factors (TFs), disease-specific genes derived from GWAS studies, drug–target and protein–protein interactions. The PR3+ AAV disease network captured genes previously reported to be dysregulated in AAV associated. A subnetwork focussing on interactions between SA virulence factors and enriched biological processes revealed potential mechanisms for SA’s involvement in PR3+ AAV. Immunosuppressant treatment reduced differential expression and absolute TF activities in this subnetwork for patients with inactive nasal disease but not active nasal disease symptoms at the time of sampling. The disease network generated identified the key molecular signatures and highlighted the associated biological processes in PR3+ AAV and revealed potential mechanisms for SA to affect these processes.