Plate IV.262 · Publications

SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers profibrotic macrophage responses and lung fibrosis

Article in Cell, December 2021.

Open accessResearch area: Lung, Epithelial Cells

Authors

  1. Daniel Wendisch
  2. Oliver Dietrich
  3. Tommaso Mari
  4. Saskia von Stillfried
  5. Ignacio L. Ibarra
  6. Mirja Mittermaier
  7. Christin Mache
  8. Robert Lorenz Chua
  9. Rainer Knoll
  10. Sara Timm
  11. Sophia Brumhard
  12. Tobias Krammer
  13. Henrik Zauber
  14. Anna Luisa Hiller
  15. Anna Pascual-Reguant
  16. Ronja Mothes
  17. Roman David Bülow
  18. Jessica Schulze
  19. Alexander M. Leipold
  20. Sonja Djudjaj
  21. Florian Erhard
  22. Robert Geffers
  23. Fabian Pott
  24. Julia Kazmierski
  25. Josefine Radke
  26. Panagiotis Pergantis
  27. Kevin Baßler
  28. Claudia Conrad
  29. Anna C. Aschenbrenner
  30. Birgit Sawitzki
  31. Markus Landthaler
  32. Emanuel Wyler
  33. David Horst
  34. Stefan Hippenstiel
  35. Andreas Hocke
  36. Frank L. Heppner
  37. Alexander Uhrig
  38. Carmen Garcia
  39. Felix Machleidt
  40. Susanne Herold
  41. Sefer Elezkurtaj
  42. Charlotte Thibeault
  43. Martin Witzenrath
  44. Clément Cochain
  45. Norbert Suttorp
  46. Christian Drosten
  47. Christine Goffinet
  48. Florian Kurth
  49. Joachim L. Schultze
  50. Helena Radbruch
  51. Matthias Ochs
  52. Roland Eils
  53. Holger Müller-Redetzky
  54. Anja E. Hauser
  55. Malte D. Luecken
  56. Fabian J. Theis
  57. Christian Conrad
  58. Thorsten Wolff
  59. Peter Boor
  60. Matthias Selbach
  61. Antoine-Emmanuel Saliba
  62. Leif Erik Sander

Abstract

COVID-19-induced "acute respiratory distress syndrome" (ARDS) is associated with prolonged respiratory failure and high mortality, but the mechanistic basis of lung injury remains incompletely understood. Here, we analyze pulmonary immune responses and lung pathology in two cohorts of patients with COVID-19 ARDS using functional single-cell genomics, immunohistology, and electron microscopy. We describe an accumulation of CD163-expressing monocyte-derived macrophages that acquired a profibrotic transcriptional phenotype during COVID-19 ARDS. Gene set enrichment and computational data integration revealed a significant similarity between COVID-19-associated macrophages and profibrotic macrophage populations identified in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. COVID-19 ARDS was associated with clinical, radiographic, histopathological, and ultrastructural hallmarks of pulmonary fibrosis. Exposure of human monocytes to SARS-CoV-2, but not influenza A virus or viral RNA analogs, was sufficient to induce a similar profibrotic phenotype in vitro. In conclusion, we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 triggers profibrotic macrophage responses and pronounced fibroproliferative ARDS.

Cite

@article{wendisch2021sars,
  title = {{SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers profibrotic macrophage responses and lung fibrosis}},
  author = {Wendisch, Daniel and Dietrich, Oliver and Mari, Tommaso and von Stillfried, Saskia and Ibarra, Ignacio L. and Mittermaier, Mirja and Mache, Christin and Chua, Robert Lorenz and Knoll, Rainer and Timm, Sara and Brumhard, Sophia and Krammer, Tobias and Zauber, Henrik and Hiller, Anna Luisa and Pascual-Reguant, Anna and Mothes, Ronja and Bülow, Roman David and Schulze, Jessica and Leipold, Alexander M. and Djudjaj, Sonja and Erhard, Florian and Geffers, Robert and Pott, Fabian and Kazmierski, Julia and Radke, Josefine and Pergantis, Panagiotis and Baßler, Kevin and Conrad, Claudia and Aschenbrenner, Anna C. and Sawitzki, Birgit and Landthaler, Markus and Wyler, Emanuel and Horst, David and Hippenstiel, Stefan and Hocke, Andreas and Heppner, Frank L. and Uhrig, Alexander and Garcia, Carmen and Machleidt, Felix and Herold, Susanne and Elezkurtaj, Sefer and Thibeault, Charlotte and Witzenrath, Martin and Cochain, Clément and Suttorp, Norbert and Drosten, Christian and Goffinet, Christine and Kurth, Florian and Schultze, Joachim L. and Radbruch, Helena and Ochs, Matthias and Eils, Roland and Müller-Redetzky, Holger and Hauser, Anja E. and Luecken, Malte D. and Theis, Fabian J. and Conrad, Christian and Wolff, Thorsten and Boor, Peter and Selbach, Matthias and Saliba, Antoine-Emmanuel and Sander, Leif Erik},
  journal = {Cell},
  publisher = {Elsevier BV},
  year = {2021},
  month = dec,
  doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2021.11.033},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.11.033},
  pmid = {34914922},
  pmcid = {PMC8626230}
}
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