The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than three million deaths globally. The severity of the disease is characterized, in part, by a dysregulated immune response. CD16+ monocytes are innate immune cells involved in inflammatory responses to viral infections, and tissue repair, among other functions. We characterized the transcriptional changes in CD16+ monocytes from PBMC of people with COVID-19, and from healthy individuals using publicly available single cell RNA sequencing data. CD16+ monocytes from people with COVID-19 compared to those from healthy individuals expressed transcriptional changes indicative of increased cell activation, and induction of a migratory phenotype. We also analyzed COVID-19 cases based on severity of the disease and found that mild cases were characterized by upregulation of interferon response and MHC class II related genes, whereas the severe cases had dysregulated expression of mitochondrial and antigen presentation genes, and upregulated inflammatory, cell movement, and apoptotic gene signatures. These results suggest that CD16+ monocytes in people with COVID-19 contribute to a dysregulated host response characterized by decreased antigen presentation, and an elevated inflammatory response with increased monocytic infiltration into tissues. Our results show that there are transcriptomic changes in CD16+ monocytes that may impact the functions of these cells, contributing to the pathogenesis and severity of COVID-19.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Inflammation, Single-cell transcriptomics, Non-classical monocytes, cell movement, 【초록키워드】 Monocytes, Pathogenesis, Inflammatory responses, COVID-19 pandemic, severity, interferon, host response, viral infections, Viral, severity of COVID-19, death, severe cases, phenotype, immune cells, PBMC, Single Cell, Innate immune cells, Antigen presentation, expression, interferon response, tissue repair, function, CD16, infiltration, Inflammatory response, Inflammatory, COVID-19 cases, mitochondrial, tissues, These cells, healthy individuals, COVID-19 case, mild cases, Severe case, upregulation, dysregulated immune response, functions, cell activation, RNA sequencing data, MHC class, Transcriptional changes, apoptotic, gene signatures, CD16+ monocytes, Genes, transcriptomic, Cell, analyzed, caused, involved, the disease, elevated, characterized, changes in, contribute, expressed, upregulated, contributing to, dysregulated, healthy individual, transcriptional change, CD16+ monocyte, innate immune cell, mild case, people with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, Monocytes, change, CD16+,