A multi-tissue study of immune gene expression profiling highlights the key role of the nasal epithelium in COVID-19 severity.

ABSTRACT: Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) symptoms range from mild to severe illness; the cause for this differential response to infection remains unknown. Unravelling the immune mechanisms acting at different levels of the colonization process might be key to understand these differences. We carried out a multi-tissue (nasal, buccal and blood; n = 156) gene expression analysis of immune-related genes from patients affected by different COVID-19 severities, and healthy controls through the nCounter technology. Mild and asymptomatic cases showed a powerful innate antiviral response in nasal epithelium, characterized by activation of interferon (IFN) pathway and downstream cascades, successfully controlling the infection at local level. In contrast, weak macrophage/monocyte driven innate antiviral

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Carballa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8861187 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature