In situ single-cell profiling sheds light on IFI27 localisation during SARS-CoV-2 infection

Chin Wee Tan, Jinjin Chen, Ning Liu, Dharmesh D. Bhuva, Tony Blick, James Monkman, Caroline Cooper, Malvika Kharbanda, Kristen Feher, Belinda Phipson, Emily E. Killingbeck, Liuliu Pan, Youngmi Kim, Yan Liang, Andy Nam, Michael Leon, Paulo Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes, Seigo Nagashima, Ana Paula Camargo Martins, Cleber Machado-Souza, Lucia de Noronha, Benjamin Tang, Kirsty Short, John Fraser, Gabrielle T. Belz, Fernando Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes, Arutha Kulasinghe, Melissa J. Davis. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105016

Summary: The utilization of single-cell resolved spatial transcriptomics to delineate immune responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection was able to identify M1 macrophages to have elevated expression of IFI27 in areas of infection.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has affected over 600 million people to date, resulting in over 6.8 million deaths, with a hospitalisation rate of approximately 20% and numerous long-term sequalae in patients. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) occurs in 40% of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and can lead to pneumonia and death. The pathogenesis of ARDS is linked to inflammatory injury to the alveolar-capillary membrane, which can impair lung function. There is a growing need to understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis to aid in the prognosis and therapeutic management of SARS-CoV-2.