A Neutrophil Activation Signature in COVID-19
Covid-19 is often related to hyperinflammation that drives lung or multi-organ damage and mortality. The immunopathological mechanisms that cause excessive inflammation following SARS-Cov-2 infection are under investigation while different approaches to limit hyperinflammation in affected patients are being proposed. Here, a computational network approach was used on recently available data to identify possible Covid-19 inflammatory mechanisms. First, network analysis of putative SARS-Cov-2 cellular receptors and their directly associated interacting proteins, led to the mining of a robust neutrophil-response signature and multiple relevant inflammatory response genes. Second, analysis of RNA-seq datasets of lung epithelial cells infected with SARS-Cov-2 found that infected cells specifically expressed neutrophil-attracting chemokines, further supporting the likely role of neutrophils in Covid-19 inflammation. The role of neutrophils in Covid-19 needs to be studied further. Different immunoregulatory molecules and pathways presented here (TNF Receptor, IL8, CXCR1, CXCR2, ADAM10, GPR84, MME-neprilysin, ANPEP, LAP3) are druggable and might be therapeutic targets in efforts to limit SARS-Cov-2 inflammation in severe clinical cases.