Tissue Specific Age Dependence of the Cell Receptors Involved in the SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Forst, Christian V.; Zeng, Lu; Wang, Qian; Zhou, Xianxiao; Vatansever, Sezen; Tu, Zhidong; Zhang, Bin

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected tens of millions of individuals and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. Due to its rapid surge, there is a shortage of information on viral behavior and host response after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we present a comprehensive, multiscale network analysis of the transcriptional response to the virus. We particularly focus on key-regulators, cell-receptors, and host-processes that are hijacked by the virus for its advantage. ACE2-controlled processes involve a key-regulator CD300e (a TYROBP receptor) and the activation of IL-2 pro-inflammatory cytokine signaling. We further investigate the age-dependency of such receptors and identify the adipose and the brain as potentially contributing tissues for the disease’s severity in old patients. In contrast, several other tissues in the young population are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. In summary, this present study provides novel insights into the gene regulatory organization during the SARS-CoV-2 infection and the tissue-specific age dependence of the cell receptors involved in COVID-19.