Serum from COVID-19 patients promotes endothelial cell dysfunction through protease-activated receptor 2

Background Endothelial dysfunction plays a central role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and is closely linked to the severity and mortality of the disease. The inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 infection can alter the capacity of the endothelium to regulate vascular tone, immune responses, and the balance between anti-thrombotic and pro-thrombotic properties. However, the specific endothelial pathways altered during COVID-19 still need to be fully understood. Objective In this study, we sought to identify molecular changes in endothelial cells induced by circulating factors characteristic of COVID-19. Methods and results To this aim, we cultured endothelial cells with sera from patients with COVID-19 or non-COVID-19 pneumonia. Through transcriptomic analysis, we were able to identify a distinctive endothelial phenotype that is induced by sera from COVID-19 patients. We confirmed and expanded this observation in vitro by showing that COVID-19 serum alters functional properties of endothelial cells leading to increased apoptosis, loss of barrier integrity, and hypercoagulability. Furthermore, we demonstrated that these endothelial dysfunctions are mediated by protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2), as predicted by transcriptome network analysis validated by in vitro functional assays. Conclusion Our findings provide the rationale for further studies to evaluate whether targeting PAR-2 may be a clinically effective strategy to counteract endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19..

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:73

Enthalten in:

Inflammation research - 73(2023), 1 vom: 20. Dez., Seite 117-130

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Vieceli Dalla Sega, Francesco [VerfasserIn]
Fortini, Francesca [VerfasserIn]
Licastro, Danilo [VerfasserIn]
Monego, Simeone Dal [VerfasserIn]
Degasperi, Margherita [VerfasserIn]
Ascierto, Alessia [VerfasserIn]
Marracino, Luisa [VerfasserIn]
Severi, Paolo [VerfasserIn]
D’Accolti, Maria [VerfasserIn]
Soffritti, Irene [VerfasserIn]
Brambilla, Marta [VerfasserIn]
Camera, Marina [VerfasserIn]
Tremoli, Elena [VerfasserIn]
Contoli, Marco [VerfasserIn]
Spadaro, Savino [VerfasserIn]
Campo, Gianluca [VerfasserIn]
Ferrari, Roberto [VerfasserIn]
Caselli, Elisabetta [VerfasserIn]
Rizzo, Paola [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext [lizenzpflichtig]

Themen:

COVID-19
Coagulopathy
Endothelial dysfunction
PAR-2
Protease-activated receptor
SARS-CoV-2

Anmerkungen:

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

doi:

10.1007/s00011-023-01823-y

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

SPR054317843