An integrated approach to identify critical transcription factors in the protection against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress by Danhong injection

Representative diagram of the established approach used in the identification of critical transcription factors (TFs) in oxidative stress. Briefly, a new method, concatenated tandem array of consensus transcription factor response elements (catTFREs), and an Illumina-based RNA-seq technology were integrated to systematically investigate the critical TFs in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress in cardiomyocytes; the damage was then rescued by Danhong injection (DHI), a Chinese standardized product approved for cardiovascular diseases treatment. By comprehensively integrating TFs activity and their target genes, 13 TFs were identified as critical TFs in DHI-mediated protection in H2O2-induced oxidative stress and 7 of these 13 TFs were further identified by using melatonin as a positive control. And the activity of APEX1, MEF2D and PBX3 was further verified in a pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte.199