The pulmonary vasculature in lethal COVID-19 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at single cell resolution.
Laura P M H de RooijLisa M BeckerLaure Anne TeuwenBram BoeckxSander JansenSimon FeysStijn VerledenLaurens LiesenborghsAnna K StalderSasha LibbrechtTina Van BuytenGino PhilipsAbhishek SubramanianSébastien J DumasElda MetaMila BorriLiliana SokolAmélie DendoovenAnh Co K TruongJan GunstPierre Van MolJasmin D HaslbauerKaterina RohlenovaThomas MenterRobbert BoudewijnsVincent GeldhofStefan VinckierJacob AmersfoortWim WuytsDirk Van RaemdonckWerner JacobsLaurens J CeulemansBirgit WeynandBernard ThienpontMartin LammensMark KuehnelGuy EelenMieke DewerchinLuc SchoonjansDanny JonigkJo Van DorpeAlexandar TzankovEls WautersMassimiliano MazzoneJohan NeytsJoost WautersDiether LambrechtsPeter CarmelietPublished in: Cardiovascular research (2022)
While assessing clinical and molecular characteristics of severe and lethal COVID-19 cases, the vasculature's undeniable role in disease progression has been widely acknowledged. COVID-19 lung pathology moreover shares certain clinical features with late-stage IPF - yet an in-depth interrogation and direct comparison of the endothelium at single-cell level in both conditions is still lacking. By comparing the transcriptomes of ECs from lungs of deceased COVID-19 patients to those from IPF explant and control lungs, we gathered key insights the heterogeneous composition and potential roles of ECs in both lethal diseases, which may serve as a foundation for development of novel therapeutics.