iScience (Jun 2024)

Uncovering strain- and age-dependent innate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in air-liquid-interface cultured nasal epithelia

  • Jessie J.-Y. Chang,
  • Samantha L. Grimley,
  • Bang M. Tran,
  • Georgia Deliyannis,
  • Carolin Tumpach,
  • An N.T. Nguyen,
  • Eike Steinig,
  • JianShu Zhang,
  • Jan Schröder,
  • Leon Caly,
  • Julie McAuley,
  • Sharon L. Wong,
  • Shafagh A. Waters,
  • Timothy P. Stinear,
  • Miranda E. Pitt,
  • Damian Purcell,
  • Elizabeth Vincan,
  • Lachlan J.M. Coin

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 6
p. 110009

Abstract

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Summary: Continuous assessment of the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the host at the cell-type level is crucial for understanding key mechanisms involved in host defense responses to viral infection. We investigated host response to ancestral-strain and Alpha-variant SARS-CoV-2 infections within air-liquid-interface human nasal epithelial cells from younger adults (26–32 Y) and older children (12–14 Y) using single-cell RNA-sequencing. Ciliated and secretory-ciliated cells formed the majority of highly infected cell-types, with the latter derived from ciliated lineages. Strong innate immune responses were observed across lowly infected and uninfected bystander cells and heightened in Alpha-infection. Alpha highly infected cells showed increased expression of protein-refolding genes compared with ancestral-strain-infected cells in children. Furthermore, oxidative phosphorylation-related genes were down-regulated in bystander cells versus infected and mock-control cells, underscoring the importance of these biological functions for viral replication. Overall, this study highlights the complexity of cell-type-, age- and viral strain-dependent host epithelial responses to SARS-CoV-2.

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