Network Analysis Reveals TNF as a Major Hub of Reactive Inflammation Following Spinal Cord Injury
Scientific Reports, 2019 · DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37357-1 · Published: January 17, 2019
Simple Explanation
Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to reactive inflammation and other harmful events that limit spinal cord regeneration. We treated inflammatory mediators as toxic chemicals and retrieved the genes and interacting proteins associated with them via a set of biological medical databases and software. For achieving a better curative effect on SCI, TNF and other major hubs should be targeted together according to the theory of network intervention, rather than a single target such as TNF alone.
Key Findings
- 1Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) had the highest scores, and the top 30 were adopted as core data.
- 2The core members were involved in cellular responses and metabolic processes, as components of the extracellular space and regions, in protein-binding and receptor-binding functions, as well as in the TNF signaling pathway.
- 3Both seizures and SCI were highly associated with TNF levels
Research Summary
Practical Implications
Target Multiple Hubs
Rather than targeting TNF alone, simultaneously targeting other major hubs like FOS and IL6 may yield better therapeutic outcomes.
Repurpose Epilepsy Drugs
Certain drugs used to treat epilepsy could potentially be repurposed as adjuvants in SCI treatment, given the association between seizures and TNF.
Further TNF Studies
TNF could be further connected to aforementioned findings and would be a direction for future SCI studies.
Study Limitations
- 1The method hardly describes the dynamic effects of GAS on SCI.
- 2Suppressing TNF overexpression might not be a desirable intervention for SCI therapy
- 3The primary data mostly overlap with each other.