Targeted Regulation of Osteoblasts and Osteoclasts in Osteosarcoma Patients
by CSF3R Receptor Inhibition of Osteolysis Caused by Tumor Inflammation
Based on Transcriptional Spectrum Analysis and Drug Library Screening
Authors: Duan Wei , Chen Yu , Shan Jinlu , Li Qian 
Published: June 2024

Background:
Osteosarcoma (OS) is a common primary malignant bone tumor that
mainly occurs in children and adolescents. The use of IL-8 inhibitor compounds has been reported
in patents, which can be used to treat and/or prevent osteosarcoma, but the pathogenesis
of osteosarcoma remains to be investigated. At present, osteoblasts and osteoclasts play an important
role in the occurrence and development of OS. However, the relationship between osteoblasts
and osteoclasts in the specific participation mechanism and inflammatory response of
OS patients has not been further studied.

Methods:
The transcriptome, clinical data, and other data related to OS were downloaded from
the GEO database to analyze them with 200 known inflammatory response genes. We set the
screening conditions as p < 0.05 and | log2FC| > 0.50, screened the differentially expressed
genes (DEGs) related to OS, tested the correlation coefficient between the OS INF gene and
clinical risk, and analyzed the survival prognosis. We further enriched and analyzed the DEGs
and inflammatory response genes of OS with GO/KEGG to explore the potential biological
function and signal pathway mechanism of OS inflammatory response genes. Moreover, the
virtual screening of drug sensitivity of OS based on the FDA drug library was also carried out to
explore potential therapeutic drugs targeted to regulate OS osteogenesis and osteoclast inflammation,
and finally, the molecular dynamics simulation verification of OS core protein and potential
drugs was carried out to explore the binding stability and mechanism between potential
drugs and core protein.

Results:
Through differential analysis of GSE39058, GSE36001, GSE87624, and three other
data sets closely related to OS osteoblasts and osteoclasts, we found that there was one upregulated
gene (CADM1) and one down-regulated gene (PHF15) related to OS. In addition,
GSEA enrichment analysis of the DEGs of OS showed that it was mainly involved in the progress
of OS through biological functions, such as oxidative photosynthesis, acute junction, and
epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The enrichment analysis of OS DEGs revealed that they
mainly affect the occurrence and progress of OS by participating in the regulation of the actin
skeleton, PI3K Akt signal pathway, complement and coagulation cascade. According to the expression
of CSF3R in OS patients, a risk coefficient model and a diagnostic model were established.
It was found that the more significant the difference in the CSF3R gene in OS patients,
the greater the risk coefficient of disease (p < 0.05). The AUC under the curve of the CSF3R
gene was greater than 0.65, which had a good diagnostic significance for OS. The above results
showed that the prognosis risk gene CSF3R related to OS inflammation was closely related to
the survival status of OS patients. Finally, through the virtual screening of the ZINC drug library
and molecular dynamics simulation, it was found that the docking model formed by the
core protein CSF3R and the compounds, Leucovorin and Methotrexate, were the most stable,
which revealed that the compounds Leucovorin and Methotrexate might play a role in the
treatment of OS by combining with the inflammatory response related factor CSF3R of OS.

Conclusion:
CSF3R participates in the occurrence and development of OS bone destruction by
regulating the inflammatory response of osteoblasts and osteoclasts and can affect the survival
prognosis of OS patients.