Multi-omic approach identifies a transcriptional network coupling innate immune response to proliferation in the blood of COVID-19 cancer patients
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ABSTRACT: Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients are worsened by the presence of co-morbidities, especially cancer for which mortality rate in cancer patients affected by COVID-19 is elevated. SARS-CoV-2 infection is known to alter immune system homeostasis. Whether cancer patients developing COVID-19 present alterations of immune functions which might contribute to worse outcomes has been so far poorly investigated. We conducted a multi-omic analysis of immunological parameters in COVID-19 patients with and without cancer. We found that 8 pro-inflammatory factors out of 27 analysed serum cytokines were modulated in COVID-19 patients irrespective of cancer status. Diverse subpopulations of T lymphocytes such as CD8+ T, CD4+ T central memory, Mucosal associated invariant T cells (MAIT) NKT and T cells were reduced while B memory cells, plasmablasts, late NK and plasmacytoid dendritic cells were expanded in COVID-19 cancer patients. A 19 gene expression signature of peripheral blood cells was able to discriminate COVID-19 cancer and without cancer patients. Gene set enrichment analysis highlights an increased gene expression in Interferon response and signalling which paired with aberrant cell cycle regulation in cancer patients. Ten out of these 19 genes were specific of COVID-19 cancer patients. Our findings illustrate a repertoire of aberrant alterations of gene expression in circulating immune cells of COVID-19 cancer patients that might contribute to decipher their higher frequency of severe events. We also unveil a transcriptional network involving gene regulators of both inflammation response and proliferation in PBMCs of COVID-19 cancer patients. This might also lead to design of novel therapeutic strategies for COVID-19 cancer patients.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE164571 | GEO | 2021/11/10
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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