Pathological features of COVID-19-associated lung injury: a preliminary proteomics report based on clinical samples
Open Access
- 15 October 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
- Vol. 5 (1), 1-9
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-020-00355-9
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a global health emergency due to its association with severe pneumonia and relative high mortality. However, the molecular characteristics and pathological features underlying COVID-19 pneumonia remain largely unknown. To characterize molecular mechanisms underlying COVID-19 pathogenesis in the lung tissue using a proteomic approach, fresh lung tissues were obtained from newly deceased patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. After virus inactivation, a quantitative proteomic approach combined with bioinformatics analysis was used to detect proteomic changes in the SARS-CoV-2-infected lung tissues. We identified significant differentially expressed proteins involved in a variety of fundamental biological processes including cellular metabolism, blood coagulation, immune response, angiogenesis, and cell microenvironment regulation. Several inflammatory factors were upregulated, which was possibly caused by the activation of NF-κB signaling. Extensive dysregulation of the lung proteome in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection was discovered. Our results systematically outlined the molecular pathological features in terms of the lung response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and provided the scientific basis for the therapeutic target that is urgently needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords
Funding Information
- Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (2018ZX09711003)
This publication has 50 references indexed in Scilit:
- Overview of the Matrisome--An Inventory of Extracellular Matrix Constituents and FunctionsCold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 2011
- Pulmonary Surfactant Pathophysiology: Current Models and Open QuestionsPhysiology, 2010
- Alveolar Surfactant Homeostasis and the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary DiseaseAnnual Review of Medicine, 2010
- Endothelin-1 and Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Independently Induce Fibroblast Resistance to Apoptosis via AKT ActivationAmerican Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, 2009
- Collagen VI Is a Subepithelial Adhesive Target for Human Respiratory Tract PathogensJournal of Innate Immunity, 2009
- Elastin expression in very severe human COPDEuropean Respiratory Journal, 2009
- MaxQuant enables high peptide identification rates, individualized p.p.b.-range mass accuracies and proteome-wide protein quantificationNature Biotechnology, 2008
- MUC5B Is the Major Mucin in the Gel Phase of Sputum in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary DiseaseAmerican Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2008
- Physical and Functional Interactions of SNAP-23 with Annexin A2American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, 2007
- The matrix component biglycan is proinflammatory and signals through Toll-like receptors 4 and 2 in macrophagesJCI Insight, 2005