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Assessment of ACE2, CXCL10 and Their co-expressed Genes: An In-silico Approach to Evaluate the Susceptibility and Fatality of Lung Cancer Patients towards COVID-19 Infection

Background COVID-19 is a recent pandemic that started to spread out worldwide from Wuhan, China. This disease is caused by a newly discovered strain of the coronavirus, namely SARS CoV-2. Lung cancer patients are reported to be more susceptible to COVID-19 infection. To evaluate the probable reasons behind the excessive susceptibility and fatality of lung cancer patients to COVID-19 infection, we targeted two most crucial biomarkers of COVID-19, ACE2 and CXCL10. ACE2 plays a vital role in the SARS CoV-2 entry into the host cell while CXCL10 is a cytokine mainly responsible for the lung cell damage involving in a cytokine storm. Methods Firstly, we used the TIMER, UALCAN and GEPIA2 databases to analyze the expression and correlation of ACE2 and CXCL10 in LUAD and LUSC. After that, using the cBioPortal database, we performed an analytical study to determine the genetic changes in ACE2 and CXCL10 protein sequences that are responsible for lung cancer development. Finally, we analyzed different functional approaches of ACE2, CXCL10 and their co-expressed genes associated with lung cancer and COVID-19 development by using the PANTHER database. Results Initially, we observed that ACE2 and CXCL10 are mostly overexpressed in LUAD and LUSC. We also found the functional significance of ACE2 and CXCL10 in lung cancer development by determining the genetic alteration frequency in their amino acid sequences. Lastly, by doing the functional assessment of the targeted genes, we identified that ACE2 and CXCL10 along with their commonly co-expressed genes are respectively involved in the binding activity and immune responses in case of lung cancer and COVID-19 infection. Conclusions Finally, on the basis of this systemic analysis, we came to the conclusion that ACE2 and CXCL10 are possible biomarkers responsible for the higher susceptibility and fatality of lung cancer patients towards the COVID-19.