Open Access
A virus-specific monocyte inflammatory phenotype is induced by SARS-CoV-2 at the immune–epithelial interface
Author(s) -
Juliette Léon,
Daniel A. Michelson,
Judith Olejnik,
Kaitavjeet Chowdhary,
Hyung Suk Oh,
Adam J. Hume,
Silvia Galván-Peña,
Yangyang Zhu,
Felicia Chen,
Brinda Vijaykumar,
Liang Yang,
Elena Crestani,
Lael M. Yonker,
David M. Knipe,
Elke Mühlberger,
Christophe Benoist
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2116853118
Subject(s) - immune system , biology , virus , immunology , inflammation , coronavirus , monocyte , phenotype , virology , pneumonia , gene , medicine , covid-19 , genetics , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Significance By modeling in vitro the cross-talk between epithelial and immune cells, this work provides possible origins for the profound inflammatory perturbations that are a hallmark of COVID-19, and the relative protection of children from severe disease. The initial interaction between immune cells and epithelial cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, or transduced to express the proteins the virus encodes, elicits a specific response, not observed with other pathogenic viruses, that presages perturbations seen in patients with severe COVID-19. Thus, the severe manifestations of COVID-19 may be rooted in the very first response that it elicits from immunocytes.