Human nasal wash RNA-Seq reveals distinct cell-specific innate immune responses in influenza versus SARS-CoV-2.
JCI Insight
; 6(22)2021 11 22.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1528615
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUNDInfluenza A virus (IAV) and SARS-CoV-2 are pandemic viruses causing millions of deaths, yet their clinical manifestations are distinctly different.METHODSWith the hypothesis that upper airway immune and epithelial cell responses are also distinct, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) on nasal wash cells freshly collected from adults with either acute COVID-19 or influenza or from healthy controls. We focused on major cell types and subtypes in a subset of donor samples.ResultsNasal wash cells were enriched for macrophages and neutrophils for both individuals with influenza and those with COVID-19 compared with healthy controls. Hillock-like epithelial cells, M2-like macrophages, and age-dependent B cells were enriched in COVID-19 samples. A global decrease in IFN-associated transcripts in neutrophils, macrophages, and epithelial cells was apparent in COVID-19 samples compared with influenza samples. The innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 appears to be maintained in macrophages, despite evidence for limited epithelial cell immune sensing. Cell-to-cell interaction analyses revealed a decrease in epithelial cell interactions in COVID-19 and highlighted differences in macrophage-macrophage interactions for COVID-19 and influenza.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that scRNA-Seq can define host and viral transcriptional activity at the site of infection and reveal distinct local epithelial and immune cell responses for COVID-19 and influenza that may contribute to their divergent disease courses.FundingMassachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, the Mathers Foundation, and the Department of Defense (W81XWH2110029) "COVID-19 Expansion for AIRe Program."
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Influenza A virus
/
Influenza, Human
/
RNA-Seq
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Immunity, Innate
/
Macrophages
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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