Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians
The immunological signatures driving the severity of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in Ghanaians remain poorly understood. We performed bulk transcriptome sequencing of nasopharyngeal samples from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected Ghanaians with mild and severe...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Immunology Research |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/6668017 |
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| author | John Demby Sandi Joshua I. Levy Kesego Tapela Mark Zeller Joshua Afari Yeboah Daniel Frimpong Saka Donald S. Grant Gordon A. Awandare Peter K. Quashie Kristian G. Andersen Lily Paemka |
| author_facet | John Demby Sandi Joshua I. Levy Kesego Tapela Mark Zeller Joshua Afari Yeboah Daniel Frimpong Saka Donald S. Grant Gordon A. Awandare Peter K. Quashie Kristian G. Andersen Lily Paemka |
| author_sort | John Demby Sandi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The immunological signatures driving the severity of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in Ghanaians remain poorly understood. We performed bulk transcriptome sequencing of nasopharyngeal samples from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected Ghanaians with mild and severe COVID-19, as well as healthy controls to characterize immune signatures at the primary SARS-CoV-2 infection site and identify drivers of disease severity. Generally, a heightened antiviral response was observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected Ghanaians compared with uninfected controls. COVID-19 severity was associated with immune suppression, overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines, including CRNN, IL1A, S100A7, and IL23A, and activation of pathways involved in keratinocyte proliferation. SAMD9L was among the differentially regulated interferon-stimulated genes in our mild and severe disease cohorts, suggesting that it may play a critical role in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. By comparing our data with a publicly available dataset from a non-African (Indians) (GSE166530), an elevated expression of antiviral response-related genes was noted in COVID-19-infected Ghanaians. Overall, the study describes immune signatures driving COVID-19 severity in Ghanaians and identifies immune drivers that could serve as potential prognostic markers for future outbreaks or pandemics. It further provides important preliminary evidence suggesting differences in antiviral response at the upper respiratory interface in sub-Saharan Africans (Ghanaians) and non-Africans, which could be contributing to the differences in disease outcomes. Further studies using larger datasets from different populations will expand on these findings. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-683e172145dd496b9b60c2c5aa74b602 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2314-7156 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Immunology Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-683e172145dd496b9b60c2c5aa74b6022025-08-20T02:06:41ZengWileyJournal of Immunology Research2314-71562024-01-01202410.1155/2024/6668017Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in GhanaiansJohn Demby Sandi0Joshua I. Levy1Kesego Tapela2Mark Zeller3Joshua Afari Yeboah4Daniel Frimpong Saka5Donald S. Grant6Gordon A. Awandare7Peter K. Quashie8Kristian G. Andersen9Lily Paemka10West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP)Department of Immunology and MicrobiologyWest African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP)Department of Immunology and MicrobiologyDepartment of BiochemistryDepartment of BiochemistryFaculty of Laboratory MedicineWest African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP)West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP)Department of Immunology and MicrobiologyWest African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP)The immunological signatures driving the severity of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in Ghanaians remain poorly understood. We performed bulk transcriptome sequencing of nasopharyngeal samples from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected Ghanaians with mild and severe COVID-19, as well as healthy controls to characterize immune signatures at the primary SARS-CoV-2 infection site and identify drivers of disease severity. Generally, a heightened antiviral response was observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected Ghanaians compared with uninfected controls. COVID-19 severity was associated with immune suppression, overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines, including CRNN, IL1A, S100A7, and IL23A, and activation of pathways involved in keratinocyte proliferation. SAMD9L was among the differentially regulated interferon-stimulated genes in our mild and severe disease cohorts, suggesting that it may play a critical role in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. By comparing our data with a publicly available dataset from a non-African (Indians) (GSE166530), an elevated expression of antiviral response-related genes was noted in COVID-19-infected Ghanaians. Overall, the study describes immune signatures driving COVID-19 severity in Ghanaians and identifies immune drivers that could serve as potential prognostic markers for future outbreaks or pandemics. It further provides important preliminary evidence suggesting differences in antiviral response at the upper respiratory interface in sub-Saharan Africans (Ghanaians) and non-Africans, which could be contributing to the differences in disease outcomes. Further studies using larger datasets from different populations will expand on these findings.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/6668017 |
| spellingShingle | John Demby Sandi Joshua I. Levy Kesego Tapela Mark Zeller Joshua Afari Yeboah Daniel Frimpong Saka Donald S. Grant Gordon A. Awandare Peter K. Quashie Kristian G. Andersen Lily Paemka Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians Journal of Immunology Research |
| title | Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians |
| title_full | Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians |
| title_fullStr | Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians |
| title_full_unstemmed | Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians |
| title_short | Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians |
| title_sort | upper airway epithelial tissue transcriptome analysis reveals immune signatures associated with covid 19 severity in ghanaians |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/6668017 |
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