Reanalysis of Single-Cell RNA-Sequencing Data in Patients with COVID-19: Insights and Limitations

Hung and Gharib discuss the paper by Karmaus et al which leveraged published single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data on BAL cells collected from patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The meta-analysis confirmed proportional increases in monocyte, neutrophil, natural killer, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell populations within the BAL of infected subjects. Unsurprisingly, chemokine, cytokine, interferon, and inflammatory signaling signatures were upregulated in immune populations from SARS-CoV-2--infected subjects, with notable interactions in the CC chemokine receptor-CC ligand axis.