SARS-CoV-2 entry factors are highly expressed in nasal epithelial cells together with innate immune genes

作者：HCA Lung Biological Network, Waradon Sungnak, Ni Huang, Christophe Bécavin, Marijn Berg, Rachel A. Queen, Monika Litviňuková, Carlos N. Talavera-López, Henrike Maatz, Daniel Reichart, Fotios Sampaziotis, Kaylee B. Worlock, Masahiro Yoshida, Josephine L. Barnes · 发表于：Nature Medicine · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1038/s41591-020-0868-6 · 被引用次数：2741 · 研究领域：SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research、Immune responses and vaccinations、COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies

We investigated SARS-CoV-2 potential tropism by surveying expression of viral entry-associated genes in single-cell RNA-sequencing data from multiple tissues from healthy human donors. We co-detected these transcripts in specific respiratory, corneal and intestinal epithelial cells, potentially explaining the high efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. These genes are co-expressed in nasal epithelial cells with genes involved in innate immunity, highlighting the cells’ potential role in initial viral infection, spread and clearance. The study offers a useful resource for further lines of inquiry with valuable clinical samples from COVID-19 patients and we provide our data in a comprehensive, open and user-friendly fashion at www.covid19cellatlas.org . An analysis of single-cell transcriptomics datasets from different tissues shows that ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are co-expressed in respiratory, corneal and intestinal epithelial cell populations, and that respiratory expression of ACE2 is associated with genes involved in innate immunity.