Abstract
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.
【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, immune response, disease severity, Infection, CD160, immune, Single-cell RNA sequencing, Peripheral blood, B cell, Disease progression, T cell, Host immune response, immune cells, receptor, convalescent, T cell receptor, interferon response, Intensive, moderate, patients, Interferon-α, cell type, acute respiratory syndrome, severe patients, CD4+, CD8+, MOST, NKT, acute inflammatory response, healthy donor, analyzed, performed, caused, functional, patients with COVID-19, skewed, transcriptional profile, 【제목키워드】 Immunological response, patients with COVID-19,