Elevation in viral entry genes and innate immunity compromise underlying increased infectivity and severity of COVID-19 in cancer patients

Jennifer Yin Yee Kwan; Liang Tzung Lin; Rachel Bell; Jeffrey P. Bruce; Christopher Richardson; Trevor J. Pugh; Fei Fei Liu

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83366-y

Elevation in viral entry genes and innate immunity compromise underlying increased infectivity and severity of COVID-19 in cancer patients

Jennifer Yin Yee Kwan, Liang Tzung Lin, Rachel Bell, Jeffrey P. Bruce, Christopher Richardson, Trevor J. Pugh, Fei Fei Liu

Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Multiple studies have reported a doubling in risk of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) among cancer patients. Here, we examine the potential biological rationale behind this recurrent epidemiological observation. By leveraging large-scale genome-wide transcriptional data of normal and malignant tissues from adults and children, we found evidence of increased expression of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry genes in the cancer state, particularly in respiratory, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary tract tissues, with decreased expression in pediatric vs. adult samples. Additionally, by interrogating the temporal effects of radiotherapy on human peripheral blood mononuclear and mucosal cells, we observed important treatment-related alterations in host innate immunity, specifically type I interferon responses. Overall, cancers enhance expression of critical viral entry genes, and innate viral defenses can be dysregulated transiently during radiation treatments. These factors may contribute to the observed increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 entry and severity of COVID-19 in cancer patients.

Original language	English
Article number	4533
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	11
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83366-y
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge Ms. Lisa Chong for generation of the manuscript figure using BioRen-der. Funding for this work was provide by The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (#PJT – 153289, Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship #415148), and The Peter and Shelagh Godsoe Chair in Radiation Medicine, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, and Ontario Ministry of Health. LTL is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST107-2320-B-038-034-MY3). TJP holds the Canada Research Chair in Translational Genomics and is supported by the Princess Margaret Foundation Gattuso-Slaight Personalized Cancer Medicine Fund and a Senior Investigator Award from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

General

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41598-021-83366-y

Cite this

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abstract = "Multiple studies have reported a doubling in risk of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) among cancer patients. Here, we examine the potential biological rationale behind this recurrent epidemiological observation. By leveraging large-scale genome-wide transcriptional data of normal and malignant tissues from adults and children, we found evidence of increased expression of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry genes in the cancer state, particularly in respiratory, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary tract tissues, with decreased expression in pediatric vs. adult samples. Additionally, by interrogating the temporal effects of radiotherapy on human peripheral blood mononuclear and mucosal cells, we observed important treatment-related alterations in host innate immunity, specifically type I interferon responses. Overall, cancers enhance expression of critical viral entry genes, and innate viral defenses can be dysregulated transiently during radiation treatments. These factors may contribute to the observed increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 entry and severity of COVID-19 in cancer patients.",

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Elevation in viral entry genes and innate immunity compromise underlying increased infectivity and severity of COVID-19 in cancer patients

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

PubMed: MeSH publication types

UN SDGs

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