Leukemia in Children and its Genetic Connection to COVID-19

        During the pandemic, children were less susceptible to contracting COVID-19, and studies have shown that children who were diagnosed with Leukemia often had prior infection of COVID-19. As children are less likely to develop acute myeloid leukemia (AML) compared to adults, my goal is to identify candidate genes that protect children from viral infections and leukemia development. Because miRNAs are important regulators of gene expression, I investigated potential biomarkers of viral infection and leukemia development in the context of miRNA targeting mechanisms.  

        Recent studies also showed that MDA5 encoded by IFIH1 is responsible for children’s increased immunity to COVID-19. My goal of this study is to test the hypothesis that IFIH1 and its regulating miRNAs are biomarkers linked to AML in children. Through checking TarBase (A database used to identify miRNAs that regulate IFIH1) then searching for genes regulated by these miRNAs, I identified two miRNAs for IFIH1, hsa-196a-5p and hsa-196b-5p, and 51 targeted genes of hsa-196a-5p and hsa-196b-5p and have high expression (>500 Transcript Per Million) reported in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) AML RNA-Seq samples. Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) analysis with STRING database indicated that two genes (STAT3 and MAP3K1) directly interact with IFIH1. My DAVID/KEGG pathway analysis results further revealed that the three candidate genes (IFIH1, STAT3, MAP3K1) were also involved in Hepatitis B (HBV) (p-value < 0.0004). Importantly, my studies suggest the expressions of three genes were tightly correlated in AML samples – indicating that IFIH1 is likely a candidate biomarker for AML.