Title: Longitudinal transcriptome analyses show robust T cell immunity during recovery from COVID-19.
Author: Zheng HY, Xu M, Yang CX, Tian RR, Zhang M, Li JJ, Wang XC, Ding ZL, Li GM, Li XL, He YQ, Dong XQ*, Yao YG*, Zheng YT*.
Publication Name: Signal Transduct Target Ther
Pub Year: 2020
Volume: 5
Issue:1
Doi: 10.1038/s41392-020-00457-4
IF: 13.493
Abstract:
Understanding the processes of immune regulation in patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is crucial for improving treatment. Here, we performed longitudinal whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples from 18 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during their treatment, convalescence, and rehabilitation. After analyzing the regulatory networks of differentially expressed messenger RNAs (mRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) between the different clinical stages, we found that humoral immunity and type I interferon response were significantly downregulated, while robust T-cell activation and differentiation at the whole transcriptome level constituted the main events that occurred during recovery from COVID-19. The formation of this T cell immune response might be driven by the activation of activating protein-1 (AP-1) related signaling pathway and was weakly affected by other clinical features. These findings uncovered the dynamic pattern of immune responses and indicated the key role of T cell immunity in the creation of immune protection against this disease.
