The cell-mediated protective and pathogenic immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection remain largely unknown. Here, we identified 76 distinct cell subsets in the PBMC samples that were associated with various clinical presentations of COVID-19 using scRNA-seq technology coupled with a deep and comprehensive analysis of unique cell surface markers and differentially expressed genes. Notable cell subsets include (NCAM1hiCD160+)NK and (TRAV1-2+CD8+)MAIT cells increased in the asymptomatic subjects, (LAG3+CD160+CD8+)NKT cells increased in the symptomatic patients, (CD68-CSF1R-IL1BhiCD14+)classical monocytes associated with age and disease severity, (CD33-HLA-DMA-CD14+)classical monocytes and (CLEC10A-S100A9lo)pDC associated with the viral persistence, neutrophils and (CD68-CSF1R-IL1BhiCD14+ )classical monocytes dramatically increased in a fatal patient, whereas (LAG3+CD160+CD8+)NKT and (FOXP3+IL2RA+IL7R+CD4+)Treg cells markedly increased in a patient with humoral immunodeficiency. The GO and KEGG analyses identified enriched pathways related to immune responses, inflammation, apoptosis and other processes. These findings may enhance our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of COVID-19 and help develop novel strategies against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Funding Information: This study is supported in part by the Department of Science and Technology of Shaanxi Province (Grant No. 2020ZDXM2-SF-02) (CZ and BS) and the operational funds from The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University (CZ and BS).
Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.
Wang, Xiaorui and Bai, Han and Ma, Junpeng and Qin, Hongyu and Jiang, Tingting and Mao, Weikang and Zeng, Qiqi and Hu, Fang and Teng, Yan and Fan, Lin and Zhao, Yang and Chen, Xiaobei and Qi, Xin and Li, Mengyang and Jiang, Meng and Xu, Jiao and Shi, Qindong and Shi, Zhihong and Ma, Jiajia and Wu, Jing and Han, Jianfeng and Wang, Yankui and Hao, Jingcan and Ding, Xi and Wang, Yue and Liu, Yuanrui and Huang, Tianlong and Fang, Chao and Ge, Changli and Li, Dong and Hu, Ke and Zhang, Binghong and Ren, Xianwen and Zhang, Baojun and Shi, Bingyin and Zhang, Chengsheng, Identification of Distinct Immune Cells Associated with Various Clinical Presentations of COVID-19. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3900124 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3900124
This version of the paper has not been formally peer reviewed.
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