t 6 A and ms 2 t 6 A Modified Nucleosides in Serum and Urine as Strong Candidate Biomarkers of COVID-19 Infection and Severity.
Yu NagayoshiKayo NishiguchiRyosuke YamamuraTakeshi ChujoHiroyuki OshiumiHiroko NagataHitomi KanekoKeiichi YamamotoHirotomo NakataKorin SakakidaAkihiro KunisawaMasataka AdachiYutaka KakizoeTakanori MizobeJun-Ichi KuratsuShinya ShimadaYasushi NakamoriMasao MatsuokaMasashi MukoyamaFan-Yan WeiKazuhito TomizawaPublished in: Biomolecules (2022)
SARS-CoV-2 infection alters cellular RNA content. Cellular RNAs are chemically modified and eventually degraded, depositing modified nucleosides into extracellular fluids such as serum and urine. Here we searched for COVID-19-specific changes in modified nucleoside levels contained in serum and urine of 308 COVID-19 patients using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). We found that two modified nucleosides, N 6 -threonylcarbamoyladenosine (t 6 A) and 2-methylthio- N 6 -threonylcarbamoyladenosine (ms 2 t 6 A), were elevated in serum and urine of COVID-19 patients. Moreover, these levels were associated with symptom severity and decreased upon recovery from COVID-19. In addition, the elevation of similarly modified nucleosides was observed regardless of COVID-19 variants. These findings illuminate specific modified RNA nucleosides in the extracellular fluids as biomarkers for COVID-19 infection and severity.