[HTML][HTML] A single-cell transcriptomic landscape of the lungs of patients with COVID-19

S Wang, X Yao, S Ma, Y Ping, Y Fan, S Sun, Z He… - Nature cell …, 2021 - nature.com
S Wang, X Yao, S Ma, Y Ping, Y Fan, S Sun, Z He, Y Shi, L Sun, S Xiao, M Song, J Cai, J Li
Nature cell biology, 2021nature.com
The lung is the primary organ targeted by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
(SARS-CoV-2), making respiratory failure a leading coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-
related mortality. However, our cellular and molecular understanding of how SARS-CoV-2
infection drives lung pathology is limited. Here we constructed multi-omics and single-
nucleus transcriptomic atlases of the lungs of patients with COVID-19, which integrate
histological, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses. Our work reveals the molecular basis of …
Abstract
The lung is the primary organ targeted by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), making respiratory failure a leading coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related mortality. However, our cellular and molecular understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 infection drives lung pathology is limited. Here we constructed multi-omics and single-nucleus transcriptomic atlases of the lungs of patients with COVID-19, which integrate histological, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses. Our work reveals the molecular basis of pathological hallmarks associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in different lung and infiltrating immune cell populations. We report molecular fingerprints of hyperinflammation, alveolar epithelial cell exhaustion, vascular changes and fibrosis, and identify parenchymal lung senescence as a molecular state of COVID-19 pathology. Moreover, our data suggest that FOXO3A suppression is a potential mechanism underlying the fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition associated with COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis. Our work depicts a comprehensive cellular and molecular atlas of the lungs of patients with COVID-19 and provides insights into SARS-CoV-2-related pulmonary injury, facilitating the identification of biomarkers and development of symptomatic treatments.
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