Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Urinary Cells Reveals Distinct Cellular Diversity in COVID-19-Associated AKI.
Kidney360
; 3(1): 28-36, 2022 01 27.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1776874
ABSTRACT
Background:
AKI is a common sequela of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and contributes to the severity and mortality from COVID-19. Here, we tested the hypothesis that kidney alterations induced by COVID-19-associated AKI could be detected in cells collected from urine.Methods:
We performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) on cells recovered from the urine of eight hospitalized patients with COVID-19 with (n=5) or without AKI (n=3) as well as four patients with non-COVID-19 AKI (n=4) to assess differences in cellular composition and gene expression during AKI.Results:
Analysis of 30,076 cells revealed a diverse array of cell types, most of which were kidney, urothelial, and immune cells. Pathway analysis of tubular cells from patients with AKI showed enrichment of transcripts associated with damage-related pathways compared with those without AKI. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression was highest in urothelial cells among cell types recovered. Notably, in one patient, we detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in urothelial cells. These same cells were enriched for transcripts associated with antiviral and anti-inflammatory pathways.Conclusions:
We successfully performed scRNAseq on urinary sediment from hospitalized patients with COVID-19 to noninvasively study cellular alterations associated with AKI and established a dataset that includes both injured and uninjured kidney cells. Additionally, we provide preliminary evidence of direct infection of urinary bladder cells by SARS-CoV-2. The urinary sediment contains a wealth of information and is a useful resource for studying the pathophysiology and cellular alterations that occur in kidney diseases.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Acute Kidney Injury
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Kidney360
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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