RAS guanyl releasing protein 1 (RASGRP1) in peripheral b cells links ra to Covid-19

Hannawi, S.; Alqutami, F.; Hachim, M. Y.

Background: Changes in the B cell subpopulations is a hallmark of the antiviral response against SARS-CoV-2 and is associated with COVID-19 severity (1). Recently our group showed common derangement observed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and COVID-19 (2). In RA, synovium attracts potentially autoreactive-B cells and plasma cells that play a central role in RA pathogenesis (3). We were interested to know the similarity in B cell's transcriptomic changes specific to RA and COVID-19. Objectives: Identify similar upregulated genes in synovium and B cells in RA and at the same time are differentially expressed in B cells infected with SARSCoV-2 or from COVID-19 patients. Methods: RNAseq dataset (GSE89408) of (218) samples isolated from joint synovial biopsies from subjects with and without rheumatoid arthritis were retrieved from GEO online database. Differentially expressed genes (DRGs) specific to RA were identified after exclusion of those upregulated in Osteoarthritis or other joint condition samples in the same dataset. The RA specific genes were intersected with DEGs between B cells from healthy versus RA as extracted from (GSE110999) dataset. The shortlisted genes specifically upregulated in B cells of RA were identified and were explored in B cells COVID-19 transcriptome datasets using (https://metascape.org/COVID). Results: 60 genes were found to be specifically upregulated in RA synovium and B cells and are changed in B cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 or from COVID-19 patients, Figure (1-A). Those genes were involved in interferon signaling, antiviral and immune cell activation. RASGRP1 was common between B cells of RA and COVID-19 and might play a role in the pathogenesis of both, Figure (1-B). RASGRP1 controls ERK/MAPK kinase cascade needed in B-/T-cell differentiation and development. It is vital to protect against viral infection and the autoimmune associated proliferation of activated T-cells like RA (4). We checked its level in another dataset (GSE152641) of the whole blood RNASeq of 62 COVID-19 patients and 24 healthy controls. RASGRP1 was significantly down in COVID-19 compared to healthy control, Figure (1-C). Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 impair B and T's cells' immune response through its action on RASGRP1 and that can be a novel mechanistic explanation of how the virus decreases immune cells and impair the B cell's humoral immunity.