- Published
- 05 May 2023
- Journal article
Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Evidence of Endothelial Dysfunction in the Brains of COVID-19 Patients with Implications for Glioblastoma Progression
- Authors
- Source
- Brain Sciences
Full text
Abstract
Background: Endothelial dysfunction is implicated in various inflammatory diseases such as ischemic stroke, heart attack, organ failure, and COVID-19. Recent studies have shown that endothelial dysfunction in the brain is attributed to excessive inflammatory responses caused by the SARS-CoV-2 infection, leading to increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier and consequently neurological damage. Here, we aim to examine the single-cell transcriptomic landscape of endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19 and its implications for glioblastoma (GBM) progression.
Methods: Single-cell transcriptome data GSE131928 and GSE159812 were obtained from the gene expression omnibus (GEO) to analyze the expression profiles of key players in innate immunity and inflammation between brain endothelial dysfunction caused by COVID-19 and GBM progression.
Results: Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the brain of COVID-19 patients revealed that endothelial cells had undergone significant transcriptomic changes, with several genes involved in immune responses and inflammation upregulated. Moreover, transcription factors were observed to modulate this inflammation, including interferon-regulated genes.
Conclusions: The results indicate a significant overlap between COVID-19 and GBM in the context of endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that there may be an endothelial dysfunction link connecting severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain to GBM progression.
Rights
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Cite as
Thakur, A., Liang, L., Banerjee, S. & Zhang, K. 2023, 'Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Evidence of Endothelial Dysfunction in the Brains of COVID-19 Patients with Implications for Glioblastoma Progression', Brain Sciences, 13(5), article no: 762. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13050762