Transcriptional and proteomic insight into the host response in fatal COVID-19 cases

A transcriptome and proteome analysis was performed in the lung of patients who died of COVID-19 in Wuhan. The neutrophil activation and pulmonary fibrosis are the major up-regulated transcriptional signatures. Because the viral burden was low in all samples, the death is considered to be the results from host responses, rather than viral cytotoxicity itself. Proteomic analysis demonstrated the up-regulation of several key host factors, such as SARS-CoV-2 entry-associated protease cathepsin B and L, and the inflammatory response modulator S100A8/A9.