Single-cell RNA analysis reveals the potential risk of organ-specific cell types vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infections. (January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Zilong; Cui, Feifei; Cao, Chen; Wang, Qingsuo; Zou, Quan
• Is Part Of: Computers in biology and medicine. Volume 140(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- Single-cell RNA sequencing -- Bioinformatics -- Macrophage -- Data mining; Medicine -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Biology -- Data processing -- Periodicals; 610.285
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.105092
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0010-4825

Abstract

Abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since December 2019 that has led to more than 160 million confirmed cases, including 3.3 million deaths. To understand the mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 invades human cells and reveal organ-specific susceptible cell types for COVID-19, we conducted comprehensive bioinformatic analysis using public single-cell RNA sequencing datasets. Utilizing the expression information of six confirmed COVID-19 receptors ( ACE2, TMPRSS2, NRP1, AXL, FURIN and CTSL), we demonstrated that macrophages are the most likely cells that may be associated with SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis in lung. Besides the widely reported 'chemokine storm', we identified ribosome related pathways that may also be potential therapeutic target for COVID-19 lung infection patients. Moreover, cell-cell communication analysis and trajectory analysis revealed that M1-like macrophages showed the highest relation to severe COVID-19 patients. And we also demonstrated that up-regulation of chemokine pathways generally lead to severe symptoms, while down-regulation of ribosome and RNA activity related pathways are more likely to be mild. Other organ-specific susceptible cell type analyses could also provide potential targets for COVID-19 therapy. This work can provide clues for understanding the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and contribute to understanding the mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 invades human cells. Highlights: Bioinformatics analysis reveals ribosome related pathways that may be potential therapeutic target for COVID-19 infection. Cell-cell communication analysis revealed that M1-like macrophages showed highest relation to severe COVID-19 patients. Up-regulation of chemokine pathways generally lead to severe symptoms. Other organ-specific susceptible cell type analyses could also provide potential targets for COVID-19 therapy.