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.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/genetics , Lung/metabolism , Transcriptome/genetics , Alveolar Epithelial Cells/metabolism , Alveolar Epithelial Cells/pathology , Alveolar Epithelial Cells/virology , COVID-19/metabolism , Fibrosis/metabolism , Fibrosis/pathology , Fibrosis/virology , Humans , Lung/pathology , Lung/virology , Proteomics/methods , SARS-CoV-2/pathogenicityABSTRACT
Over the past year, Cell Stem Cell has introduced early-career researchers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closures to our readers. One year since our first introductions, we've invited several participants to reflect on their experiences and key issues. In this Story, Weiqi Zhang discusses her lab's research focus and how they found opportunities during COVID-19 shutdowns to provide new resources for the aging research community.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Aging , Female , Humans , Research Personnel , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Aging is a major risk factor for many diseases, especially in highly prevalent cardiopulmonary comorbidities and infectious diseases including Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Resolving cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with aging in higher mammals is therefore urgently needed. Here, we created young and old non-human primate single-nucleus/cell transcriptomic atlases of lung, heart and artery, the top tissues targeted by SARS-CoV-2. Analysis of cell type-specific aging-associated transcriptional changes revealed increased systemic inflammation and compromised virus defense as a hallmark of cardiopulmonary aging. With age, expression of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) was increased in the pulmonary alveolar epithelial barrier, cardiomyocytes, and vascular endothelial cells. We found that interleukin 7 (IL7) accumulated in aged cardiopulmonary tissues and induced ACE2 expression in human vascular endothelial cells in an NF-κB-dependent manner. Furthermore, treatment with vitamin C blocked IL7-induced ACE2 expression. Altogether, our findings depict the first transcriptomic atlas of the aged primate cardiopulmonary system and provide vital insights into age-linked susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that geroprotective strategies may reduce COVID-19 severity in the elderly.
Subject(s)
Aging , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , Transcriptome , Alveolar Epithelial Cells/cytology , Alveolar Epithelial Cells/metabolism , Alveolar Epithelial Cells/virology , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/genetics , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/metabolism , Animals , Ascorbic Acid/pharmacology , COVID-19/pathology , COVID-19/virology , Cell Line , Endothelial Cells/cytology , Endothelial Cells/metabolism , Endothelial Cells/virology , Humans , Interleukin-7/metabolism , Interleukin-7/pharmacology , Macaca fascicularis , Myocytes, Cardiac/cytology , Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism , Myocytes, Cardiac/virology , RNA-Seq , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Single-Cell Analysis , Transcriptome/drug effectsABSTRACT
Age-associated changes in immune cells have been linked to an increased risk for infection. However, a global and detailed characterization of the changes that human circulating immune cells undergo with age is lacking. Here, we combined scRNA-seq, mass cytometry and scATAC-seq to compare immune cell types in peripheral blood collected from young and old subjects and patients with COVID-19. We found that the immune cell landscape was reprogrammed with age and was characterized by T cell polarization from naive and memory cells to effector, cytotoxic, exhausted and regulatory cells, along with increased late natural killer cells, age-associated B cells, inflammatory monocytes and age-associated dendritic cells. In addition, the expression of genes, which were implicated in coronavirus susceptibility, was upregulated in a cell subtype-specific manner with age. Notably, COVID-19 promoted age-induced immune cell polarization and gene expression related to inflammation and cellular senescence. Therefore, these findings suggest that a dysregulated immune system and increased gene expression associated with SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility may at least partially account for COVID-19 vulnerability in the elderly.