Immune homeostasis is disturbed during severe viral infections, which can lead to loss of tolerance to self-peptides and result in short- or long-term autoimmunity. Using publicly available transcriptomic datasets, we conducted an in-silico analyses to evaluate the expression levels of 52 autoantigens, known to be associated with 24 autoimmune diseases, during SAR-CoV-2 infection. Seven autoantigens (MPO, PRTN3, PADI4, IFIH1, TRIM21, PTPRN2, and TSHR) were upregulated in whole blood samples. MPO and TSHR were overexpressed in both lung autopsies and whole blood tissue and were associated with more severe COVID-19. Neutrophil activation derived autoantigens (MPO, PRTN3, and PADI4) were prominently increased in blood of both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viral infections, while TSHR and PTPRN2 autoantigens were specifically increased in SARS-CoV-2. Using single-cell dataset from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), we observed an upregulation of MPO, PRTN3, and PADI4 autoantigens within the low-density neutrophil subset. To validate our in-silico analysis, we measured plasma protein levels of two autoantigens, MPO and PRTN3, in severe and asymptomatic COVID-19. The protein levels of these two autoantigens were significantly upregulated in more severe COVID-19 infections. In conclusion, the immunopathology and severity of COVID-19 could result in transient autoimmune activation. Longitudinal follow-up studies of confirmed cases of COVID-19 could determine the enduring effects of viral infection including development of autoimmune disease.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, neutrophil, bioinformatics, Autoimmune disease, autoantigen, respiratory viral infection, lung autopsies, 【초록키워드】 Tolerance, Autoimmunity, viral infection, SAR-CoV-2, severe COVID-19, neutrophil, Infection, lung, MPO, immunopathology, SARS-CoV-1, viral infections, Autopsy, Peripheral blood, Autoimmune disease, infections, Viral, Whole blood, severity of COVID-19, Immune homeostasis, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Autoimmune, follow-up studies, Autoimmune diseases, in-silico, longitudinal, TRIM21, homeostasis, Blood, Analysis, PBMCs, neutrophil activation, Asymptomatic COVID-19, Autoantigens, mononuclear cells, lead, follow-up study, mononuclear cell, plasma protein, confirmed case, Activation, tissue, expression level, confirmed cases, COVID-19 infections, upregulation, low-density, expression levels, severe COVID-19 infections, protein level, protein levels, datasets, IFIH1, PADI4, PRTN3, PTPRN2, single-cell dataset, TSHR, Effect, transcriptomic, SARS-CoV-2 viral, evaluate, significantly, conducted, determine, upregulated, subset, overexpressed, 【제목키워드】 Viral, enhanced,