Intractable Rare Dis Res. 2021;10(3):165-172. (DOI: 10.5582/irdr.2021.01041)

Integrative overview of IFITMs family based on Bioinformatics analysis

Liu P, Zhang Y, Zhang S, Peng C, Yang W, Li X, Zhang C, Li M, Han J, Lu Y

Human interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) family is a multi-functional biomacromolecule family playing a critical role in various physiological processes, such as, antiviral immunity, tumor suppression, and bone formation. Although there are many studies proving that a subset of tumors strongly links to the changes of IFITMs, the link between different IFITMs mutant types and diverse tumors has not been studied thoroughly. To investigate the law of expression among IFITMs internal members and the linking of IFITMs mutant types and cancers, online databases were used to pool together relevant data for bioinformatics analysis. Here, we summarize mutations, expression, and functions of human IFITMs, analyze diverse expression levels of IFITMs in physiological and pathological tissues, predict protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, and target miRNAs and relevant signaling pathways of IFITMs. The results show that IFITM1, IFITM2, and IFITM3 have similar motif pattern constructions and physiological functions, while IFITM5 and IFITM10 show far diversity from them. Particularly, IFITM1-3, in conjunction with interacting proteins, is strongly related to development and overall survival rates of a portion of cancers, including renal cancer and uveal melanoma (UVM). This trait may make IFITM1-3 become a prognostic marker of cancers. Meanwhile, hsa_circ_0116375 has been found as the common circRNA for IFITM2, IFITM3, IFITM5, and IFITM10.

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