Blood single cell immune profiling reveals the interferon-MAPK pathway mediated adaptive immune response for COVID-19

Lulin Huang; Yi Shi; Bo Gong; Li Jiang; Xiaoqi Liu; Jialiang Yang; Juan Tang; Chunfang You; Qi Jiang; Bo Long; Tao Zeng; Mei Luo; Fanwei Zeng; Fanxin Zeng; Shuqiang Wang; Xingxiang Yang; Zhenglin Yang

We then analyzed top TCR encoded antibody sequences for known antigens, and some of them were annotated in the VDJdb antigen categories database (Fig. 3H ). In patients with COVID-19, we detected immune responses to known antigens, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), HIV-1, influenza A, yellow fever, and other RNA viruses, as well as DNA viruses such as cytomegalovirus (CMV). In addition, autoantigens were detected in the severe condition (patient 2) and the moderate condition (patients 4, 8, and 9). In patient 2, the autoantigen response was obvious activation, which indicated that this severe disease condition may be related to strong autoimmunity. On the contrary, in the critical condition (patient 1), only two antibodies against the Ebola EBV antigen were detected. These results further suggest that the critical condition may be caused by insufficient immunity, while the severe condition may be aggravated by excessive autoimmunity. In the normal condition, no All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.