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Single-cell landscape of immunological responses in patients with COVID-19

2020; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 21; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41590-020-0762-x

1529-2916

Ji‐Yuan Zhang, Xiang‐Ming Wang, Xudong Xing, Zhe Xu, Chao Zhang, Jin‐Wen Song, Xing Fan, Peng Xia, Junliang Fu, Siyu Wang, Ruo-Nan Xu, Xiao-Peng Dai, Lei Shi, Lei Huang, Tian-Jun Jiang, Ming Shi, Yuxia Zhang, Alimuddin Zumla, Markus Maeurer, Fan Bai, Fu‐Sheng Wang,

Immune Cell Function and Interaction

In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the relationship between disease severity and the host immune response is not fully understood. Here we performed single-cell RNA sequencing in peripheral blood samples of 5 healthy donors and 13 patients with COVID-19, including moderate, severe and convalescent cases. Through determining the transcriptional profiles of immune cells, coupled with assembled T cell receptor and B cell receptor sequences, we analyzed the functional properties of immune cells. Most cell types in patients with COVID-19 showed a strong interferon-α response and an overall acute inflammatory response. Moreover, intensive expansion of highly cytotoxic effector T cell subsets, such as CD4+ effector-GNLY (granulysin), CD8+ effector-GNLY and NKT CD160, was associated with convalescence in moderate patients. In severe patients, the immune landscape featured a deranged interferon response, profound immune exhaustion with skewed T cell receptor repertoire and broad T cell expansion. These findings illustrate the dynamic nature of immune responses during disease progression.