COVID-19 genetic risk variants are associated with expression of multiple genes in diverse immune cell types.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34799557.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-26888-3 and PMC identifier 8604964.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Common genetic polymorphisms associated with COVID-19 illness can be utilized for discovering molecular pathways and cell types driving disease pathogenesis. Given the importance of immune cells in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 illness, here we assessed the effects of COVID-19-risk variants on gene expression in a wide range of immune cell types. Transcriptome-wide association study and colocalization analysis revealed putative causal genes and the specific immune cell types where gene expression is most influenced by COVID-19-risk variants. Notable examples include OAS1 in non-classical monocytes, DTX1 in B cells, IL10RB in NK cells, CXCR6 in follicular helper T cells, CCR9 in regulatory T cells and ARL17A in T<sub>H</sub>2 cells. By analysis of transposase accessible chromatin and H3K27ac-based chromatin-interaction maps of immune cell types, we prioritized potentially functional COVID-19-risk variants. Our study highlights the potential of COVID-19 genetic risk variants to impact the function of diverse immune cell types and influence severe disease manifestations.
Medical subject headings
- COVID-19