T-cell hyperactivation and paralysis in severe COVID-19 infection revealed by
single-cell analysis
single-cell analysis
File(s)fimmu-11-589380.pdf (2.43 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Kalfaoglu, Bahire
Almeida-Santos, Jose
Tye, Chanidapa
Yorifumi, Satou
Ono, Masahiro
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Severe COVID-19 patients show various immunological abnormalities including T-cell reduction and cytokine release syndrome, which can be fatal and is a major concern of the pandemic. However, it is poorly understood how T-cell dysregulation can contribute to the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19. Here we show single cell-level mechanisms for T-cell dysregulation in severe COVID-19, demonstratingnewpathogenetic mechanisms ofT-cell activation and differentiation underlying severe COVID-19. By in silico sorting CD4+ T-cells from a single cell RNA-seq dataset, we found that CD4+ T-cells were highly activated and showed unique differentiation pathways in the lung of severe COVID-19 patients. Notably, those T-cells in severe COVID-19 patients highly expressed immunoregulatory receptors and CD25, whilst repressing the expression of FOXP3. Furthermore, we show that CD25+ hyperactivated T-cells differentiate into multiple helper T-cell lineages, showing multifaceted effector T-cells with Th1 and Th2 characteristics. Lastly, we show that CD25-expressing hyperactivated T-cells produce the protease Furin, which facilitates the viral entry of SARS-CoV-2. Collectively, CD4+T-cells from severe COVID-19 patients are hyperactivated and FOXP3-mediated negative feedback mechanisms are impaired in the lung, which may promote immunopathology. Therefore, our study proposes a new model of T-cell hyperactivation and paralysis that drives immunopathology in severe COVID-19.
Date Issued
2020-10-08
Date Acceptance
2020-09-16
Citation
Frontiers in Immunology, 2020, 11
ISSN
1664-3224
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Immunology
Volume
11
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Kalfaoglu, Almeida-Santos, Tye, Satou and Ono. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Grant Number
MR/S000208/1
MR/S000208/1
Subjects
CD25
COVID-19
FOXP3
Furin
SARS-CoV-2
T-cells
regulatory T-cells (Tregs)
single cell RNA-seq
1107 Immunology
1108 Medical Microbiology
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
2605
Date Publish Online
2020-10-08