Morphological Alterations and Stress Protein Variations in Lung Biopsies Obtained from Autopsies of COVID-19 Subjects
Rosario Barone,
Antonella Marino Gammazza,
Letizia Paladino,
Alessandro Pitruzzella,
Giulio Spinoso,
Monica Salerno,
Francesco Sessa,
Cristoforo Pomara,
Francesco Cappello,
Francesca Rappa
Affiliations
Rosario Barone
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Antonella Marino Gammazza
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Letizia Paladino
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Alessandro Pitruzzella
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Giulio Spinoso
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Monica Salerno
Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95121 Catania, Italy
Francesco Sessa
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy
Cristoforo Pomara
Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95121 Catania, Italy
Francesco Cappello
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Francesca Rappa
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Molecular chaperones, many of which are heat shock proteins, play a role in cell stress response and regulate the immune system in various ways, such as in inflammatory/autoimmune reactions. It would be interesting to study the involvement of these molecules in the damage done to COVID-19-infected lungs. In our study, we performed a histological analysis and an immunomorphological evaluation on lung samples from subjects who succumbed to COVID-19 and subjects who died from other causes. We also assessed Hsp60 and Hsp90 distribution in lung samples to determine their location and post-translational modifications. We found histological alterations that could be considered pathognomonic for COVID-19-related lung disease. Hsp60 and Hsp90 immunopositivity was significantly higher in the COVID-19 group compared to the controls, and immunolocalization was in the plasma membrane of the endothelial cells in COVID-19 subjects. The colocalization ratios for Hsp60/3-nitrotyrosine and Hsp60/acetylate-lisine were significantly increased in the COVID-19 group compared to the control group, similar to the colocalization ratio for Hsp90/acetylate-lisine. The histological and immunohistochemical findings led us to hypothesize that Hsp60 and Hsp90 might have a role in the onset of the thromboembolic phenomena that lead to death in a limited number of subjects affected by COVID-19. Further studies on a larger number of samples obtained from autopsies would allow to confirm these data as well as discover new biomarkers useful in the battle against this disease.
