Identification of Targetable Kinases in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis [post]

Hisao Higo, Kadoaki Ohashi, Shuta Tomida, Sachi Okawa, Hiromasa Yamamoto, Seiichiro Sugimoto, Go Makimoto, Kiichiro Ninomiya, Takamasa Nakasuka, Kazuya Nishii, Akihiko Taniguchi, Toshio Kubo (+6 others)
2021 unpublished
Background: Tyrosine kinase activation plays an important role in the progression of pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, we analyzed the expression of 612 kinase-coding and cancer-related genes using next-generation sequencing to identify potential therapeutic targets for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).Methods: Thirteen samples from five patients with IPF (Cases 1-5) and eight samples from four patients without IPF (control) were included in this study. Six of the thirteen samples were
more » ... ned from different lung segments of a single patient who underwent bilateral pneumonectomy. Gene expression analysis of IPF lung tissue samples (n=13) and control samples (n=8) was performed using SureSelect RNA Human Kinome Kit. The expression of the selected genes was further confirmed at the protein level by immunohistochemistry (IHC).Results: Gene expression analysis revealed a correlation between the gene expression signatures and the degree of fibrosis, as assessed by Ashcroft score. In addition, the expression analysis indicated a stronger heterogeneity among the IPF lung samples than among the control lung samples. In the integrated analysis of the 21 samples, DCLK1 and STK33 were found to be upregulated in IPF lung samples compared to control lung samples. However, the top most upregulated genes were distinct in individual cases. DCLK1, PDK4, and ERBB4 were upregulated in IPF case 1, whereas STK33, PIM2, and SYK were upregulated in IPF case 2. IHC revealed that these proteins were expressed in the epithelial layer of the fibrotic lesions.Conclusions: We performed a comprehensive kinase expression analysis to explore the potential therapeutic targets for IPF. DCLK1 and STK33 can serve as potential candidate targets for molecular targeted therapy of IPF. In addition, PDK4, ERBB4, PIM2, and SYK may serve as personalized therapeutic targets of IPF.
doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-554760/v1 fatcat:nuacy3rvbnd3viw3vikylfszcu