Lin Y, Postma DF, Steeneken LS, Melo dos Santos LS, Kirkland JL, Espindola‐Netto JM, Tchkonia T, Borghesan M, Bouma HR, Demaria M. Circulating monocytes expressing senescence-associated features are enriched in COVID-19 patients with severe disease.
Aging Cell 2023;
22:e14011. [PMID:
37969056 PMCID:
PMC10726854 DOI:
10.1111/acel.14011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Accurate biomarkers for predicting COVID-19 severity have remained an unmet need due to an incomplete understanding of virus pathogenesis and heterogeneity among patients. Cellular senescence and its pro-inflammatory phenotype are suggested to be a consequence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and potentially drive infection-dependent pathological sequelae. Senescence-associated markers in infected individuals have been identified primarily in the lower respiratory tract, while little is known about their presence in more easily accessible bio-specimens. Here, we measured the abundance of senescence-associated signatures in whole blood, plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of COVID-19 patients and patients without an infection. Bulk transcriptomic and targeted proteomic assays revealed that the level of senescence-associated markers, including the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), is predictive of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Single-cell RNA-sequencing data demonstrated that a senescence signature is particularly enriched in monocytes of COVID-19 patients, partially correlating with disease severity. Our findings suggest that monocytes are prematurely induced to senescence by SARS-CoV-2 infection, might contribute to exacerbating a SASP-like inflammatory response and can serve as markers and predictors for COVID-19 and its sequelae.
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