Single-cell immunophenotyping of the fetal immune response to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in late gestation

Matute, Juan; Finander, Benjamin; Pepin, David; Ai, Xinbin; Smith, Neal; Li, Jonathan; Edlow, Andrea; Villani, Alexandra; Lerou, Paul; Kalish, Brian

During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of pregnant women have been infected with SARS-CoV-2. The implications of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection on fetal and childhood well-being are unknown. We aimed to characterize the fetal immune response to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing and T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing on cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC) from newborns of mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the third-trimester (cases) or without SARS-CoV-2 infection. We identified widespread gene expression changes in CBMC from cases, including upregulation of interferon-stimulated genes and Major Histocompatibility Complex genes in CD14 + monocytes; transcriptional changes suggestive of activation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and activation and exhaustion of NK cells and CD8 + T-cells. Lastly, we observed fetal TCR repertoire expansion in cases. As none of the infants were infected with SARS-CoV-2, our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 maternal infection might modulate the fetal immune system in the absence of vertical transmission.