Gene Enrichment

"To address the putative protective mechanisms of the ADCC mAb 5SB12 against SARS-CoV-2 infection, functional enrichment analysis was conducted, particularly between the infected −/+ and +/+ samples. To verify the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we examined the differentially expressed genes between −/− and −/+ groups using a gene set enrichment analysis approach and found that the biological process GO term “Regulation of interleukin-12 production” was enriched by upregulated genes. Focusing on the virus-infected samples, the gene set terms “Regulation of viral transcription” and “Negative regulation of viral transcription,” including the upregulated genes Trim13 and Zfp36, were enriched in samples pretreated with 5SB12 mAb. This indicates that viral transcription activities were negatively regulated in ADCC mAb-pretreated samples, potentially contributing to the prevention of further viral replication inside host cells. Additionally, the “Monocyte activation” gene set was enriched. GO terms involving protein modification were also enriched, including “Protein deglycosylation,” “Protein demannosylation,” and “Endoplasmic reticulum mannose trimming.” Aside from GO terms, the Klrk1 gene, which encodes an activating receptor on NK cells, was upregulated in the +/+ treatment group. In contrast, the Tigit gene, a key component that inhibits cytotoxic activity by delivering direct inhibitory signals to NK cells, was significantly downregulated with 5SB12 mAb pretreatment."