Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cell Responses Differ by Sex in COVID-19 by Yu et al

Published: 12 March 2021| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/csc9p34d5t.1
Contributor:
Chen Yu

Description

Sexual dimorphisms in immune responses contribute to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes, yet the mechanisms governing this disparity remain incompletely understood. We carried out sex-balanced sampling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from confirmed COVID-19 inpatients and outpatients, uninfected close contacts, and healthy controls for 36-color flow cytometry and single cell RNA-sequencing. Our results revealed a pronounced reduction of circulating mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in infected females. Integration of published COVID-19 airway tissue datasets implicate that this reduction represented a major wave of MAIT cell extravasation during early infection in females. Moreover, female MAIT cells possessed an immunologically active gene signature, whereas male counterparts were pro-apoptotic. Collectively, our findings uncover a female-specific protective MAIT profile, potentially shedding light on reduced COVID-19 susceptibility in females.

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Institutions

Duke University

Categories

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, COVID-19

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