Project description:Analysis of breast cancer survivors' gut microbiota after lifestyle intervention, during the COVID-19 lockdown, by 16S sequencing of fecal samples.
Project description:Analysis of COVID-19 hospitalized patients, with different kind of symptoms, by human rectal swabs collection and 16S sequencing approach.
Project description:We enrolled 37 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients including 17 short course (SC) COVID-19 patients (twice viral RNA detection negative over 24 hrs) and 20 COVID-19 long course (LC) COVID-19 patients. We also included 35 SARS-CoV-2 negative patients as control group. We collected 224 inactive serum samples from this cohort and their clinical data. For those Covid-19 patients, we included 37 patients with 2-9 weeks comparing with negative control patients and used tandem mass tag (TMT) based proteomics method to profile temporal proteomics change for this cohort.
Project description:The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in over 6.3 million deaths and 560 million COVID-19 cases worldwide. Clinical management of hospitalised patients is complex due to the heterogeneous course of COVID-19. Low-dose radiotherapy (LD-RT) is known to dampen localised chronic inflammation, and has been suggested to be used to reduce lung inflammation in COVID-19 patients. However, it is unknown whether SARS-CoV-2 alters the radiation response and associated radiation exposure related risk. We generated gene expression profiles from circulating leukocytes of hospitalised COVID-19 patients and healthy donors. The p53 signalling pathway was found to be dysregulated, with mRNA levels of p53, ATM and CHK2 being lower in COVID-19 patients. Several key p53 target genes involved in cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and p53 feedback inhibition were up-regulated in COVID-19 patients, while other p53 target genes were downregulated. This dysregulation has functional consequences as the transcription of p53-dependant genes (CCNG1, GADD45A, DDB2, SESN1, FDXR, APOBEC) was reduced 24 h after X-ray exposure ex-vivo to both low (100 mGy) or high (2 Gy) doses. In conclusion, SARS-CoV-2 infection affects a DNA damage response that may modify radiation-induced health risks in exposed COVID-19 patients.
Project description:Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of COVID-19 severity using the Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC microarray platform to analyze over 850,000 methylation sites, comparing COVID-19 patients with patients presenting with respiratory symptoms, but negative for COVID-19, using whole blood tissue.
Project description:Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) represent an emerging global crisis. However, quantifiable risk-factors for PASC and their biological associations are poorly resolved. We executed a deep multi-omic, longitudinal investigation of 309 COVID-19 patients from initial diagnosis to convalescence (2-3 months later), integrated with clinical data, and patient-reported symptoms. We resolved four PASC-anticipating risk factors at the time of initial COVID-19 diagnosis: type 2 diabetes, SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia, Epstein-Barr virus viremia, and specific autoantibodies. In patients with gastrointestinal PASC, SARS-CoV-2-specific and CMV-specific CD8+ T cells exhibited unique dynamics during recovery from COVID-19. Analysis of symptom-associated immunological signatures revealed coordinated immunity polarization into four endotypes exhibiting divergent acute severity and PASC. We find that immunological associations between PASC factors diminish over time leading to distinct convalescent immune states. Detectability of most PASC factors at COVID-19 diagnosis emphasizes the importance of early disease measurements for understanding emergent chronic conditions and suggests PASC treatment strategies.
Project description:Type I interferon (IFN-I) neutralizing autoantibodies have been found in some critical COVID-19 patients; however, their prevalence and longitudinal dynamics across the disease severity scale, and functional effects on circulating leukocytes remain unknown. Here, in 284 COVID-19 patients, we found IFN-I autoantibodies in 19% of critical, 6% of severe and none of the moderate cases. Longitudinal profiling of over 600,000 peripheral blood mononuclear cells using multiplexed single- cell epitope and transcriptome sequencing from 54 COVID-19 patients, 15 non-COVID-19 patients and 11 non-hospitalized healthy controls, revealed a lack of IFN-I stimulated gene (ISG-I) response in myeloid cells from critical cases, including those producing anti-IFN-I autoantibodies. Moreover, surface protein analysis showed an inverse correlation of the inhibitory receptor LAIR-1 with ISG-I expression response early in the disease course. This aberrant ISG-I response in critical patients with and without IFN-I autoantibodies, supports a unifying model for disease pathogenesis involving ISG-I suppression via convergent mechanisms.
Project description:Dexamethasone improves the survival of COVID-19 patients in need of supplemental oxygen therapy. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients eligible for dexamethasone therapy were recruited from the general care ward in several centers in Greece and the Netherlands and whole blood transcriptomic analysis was performed before and after starting dexamethasone treatment. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from healthy individuals and COVID-19 patients and stimulated with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 ex vivo in the presence or absence of dexamethasone and their transcriptome was assessed.
Project description:Hyperinflammation contributes to lung injury and subsequent acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with high mortality in severe COVID-19. To understand the underlying mechanisms, we investigated the role of the lung-specific immune response. Here we profiled lymphocytes and myeloid cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and blood of COVID-19 patients. By tracking T cell clones across tissues, we identified clonally expanded tissue-resident memory-like Th17 cells (Trm17 cells) in the lung even after viral clearance. These Trm17 cells are characterized by a potentially pathogenic cytokine profile with expression of IL17A and CSF2 (GM-CSF). Interactome analysis revealed that Trm17 cells interact with macrophages and cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, which have been associated with disease severity and lung damage. High IL-17A and GM-CSF protein levels in the serum of COVID-19 patients correlated with severe clinical course. This study suggests pulmonary Trm17 cells as one of the orchestrators of the hyperinflammation in severe COVID-19 and that these cells and their cytokines, such as GM-CSF, are promising biomarkers and potential targets for a COVID-19 therapy.