Immunopathological signatures in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and pediatric COVID-19.

Journal: Nature Medicine
Published:
Abstract

Pediatric Coronavirus Disease 2019 (pCOVID-19) is rarely severe; however, a minority of children infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), with substantial morbidity. In this longitudinal multi-institutional study, we applied multi-omics (analysis of soluble biomarkers, proteomics, single-cell gene expression and immune repertoire analysis) to profile children with COVID-19 (n = 110) and MIS-C (n = 76), along with pediatric healthy controls (pHCs; n = 76). pCOVID-19 was characterized by robust type I interferon (IFN) responses, whereas prominent type II IFN-dependent and NF-κB-dependent signatures, matrisome activation and increased levels of circulating spike protein were detected in MIS-C, with no correlation with SARS-CoV-2 PCR status around the time of admission. Transient expansion of TRBV11-2 T cell clonotypes in MIS-C was associated with signatures of inflammation and T cell activation. The association of MIS-C with the combination of HLA A*02, B*35 and C*04 alleles suggests genetic susceptibility. MIS-C B cells showed higher mutation load than pCOVID-19 and pHC. These results identify distinct immunopathological signatures in pCOVID-19 and MIS-C that might help better define the pathophysiology of these disorders and guide therapy.

Authors
Keith Sacco, Riccardo Castagnoli, Svetlana Vakkilainen, Can Liu, Ottavia Delmonte, Cihan Oguz, Ian Kaplan, Sara Alehashemi, Peter Burbelo, Farzana Bhuyan, Adriana De Jesus, Kerry Dobbs, Lindsey Rosen, Aristine Cheng, Elana Shaw, Mikko Vakkilainen, Francesca Pala, Justin Lack, Yu Zhang, Danielle Fink, Vasileios Oikonomou, Andrew Snow, Clifton Dalgard, Jinguo Chen, Brian Sellers, Gina Montealegre Sanchez, Karyl Barron, Emma Rey Jurado, Cecilia Vial, Maria Poli, Amelia Licari, Daniela Montagna, Gian Marseglia, Francesco Licciardi, Ugo Ramenghi, Valentina Discepolo, Andrea Lo Vecchio, Alfredo Guarino, Eli Eisenstein, Luisa Imberti, Alessandra Sottini, Andrea Biondi, Sayonara Mató, Dana Gerstbacher, Meng Truong, Michael Stack, Mary Magliocco, Marita Bosticardo, Tomoki Kawai, Jeffrey Danielson, Tyler Hulett, Manor Askenazi, Shaohui Hu, Michail Lionakis, Thomas Snyder, Steven Holland, Raphaela Goldbach Mansky, John Tsang, Luigi Notarangelo