High-dimensional immune profiling by mass cytometry revealed immunosuppression and dysfunction of immunity in COVID-19 patients
Wenjing Wang, Bin Su, Lijun Pang, Luxin Qiao, Yingmei Feng, Yabo Ouyang, Xianghua Guo, Hongbo Shi, Feili Wei, Xiaogang Su, Jiming Yin, Ronghua Jin & Dexi Chen
Cellular & Molecular Immunology (2020)
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the new virus SARS-CoV-2 has been announced as a public health emergency of international concern.1,2,3 The clinical features of patients with COVID-19 range from common fever and cough to other rare symptoms, such as diarrhea and nausea. This disease can progress quickly, and 2–3% of patients die within a short time, which is generally due to multiple organ failure.4,5,6,7 Clinically, COVID-19 patients are classified into mild, moderate, severe, and critical cases.5,6,7 The immune response against SARS-CoV-2 is probably linked to the severity of disease. Recently, Zheng et al.8 showed that elevated levels of T-cell exhaustion and reduced functional diversity of T cells in peripheral blood may predict severe progression in COVID-19 patients; however, a more comprehensive understanding of the pathology of SARS-CoV-2 infection remains to be delineated.