Abstract
The outbreak of the highly contagious and deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has posed a serious threat to public health across the globe, calling for the development of effective diagnostic markers and therapeutics. Here, we report a highly reliable severity diagnostic biomarker, acetylated 676th lysine transforming growth factor-beta-induced protein (TGFBIp K676Ac). TGFBIp K676Ac was consistently elevated in the blood of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia (n = 113), especially in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) compared to non-ICU patients. Patients' blood samples showed increased cytokines and lymphopenia, which are exemplary indicators of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Treatment with TGFBIp neutralizing antibodies suppressed the cytokine storm. The increased level of TGFBIp K676Ac in ICU patients suggests the promise of this protein as a reliable severity diagnostic biomarker for severe SARS-CoV-2 disease.
Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).
Publication types
-
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
-
Acetylation
-
Antibodies, Neutralizing / pharmacology
-
Betacoronavirus / immunology
-
Betacoronavirus / pathogenicity*
-
Biomarkers / blood
-
COVID-19
-
Case-Control Studies
-
Coronavirus Infections / blood
-
Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
-
Coronavirus Infections / immunology
-
Coronavirus Infections / pathology
-
Cytokine Release Syndrome / blood
-
Cytokine Release Syndrome / diagnosis*
-
Cytokine Release Syndrome / immunology
-
Cytokine Release Syndrome / pathology
-
Extracellular Matrix Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
-
Extracellular Matrix Proteins / genetics
-
Extracellular Matrix Proteins / immunology*
-
Gene Expression
-
Humans
-
Intensive Care Units
-
Leukocyte Count
-
Leukocytes, Mononuclear / drug effects
-
Leukocytes, Mononuclear / immunology*
-
Leukocytes, Mononuclear / pathology
-
Leukocytes, Mononuclear / virology
-
Lung / blood supply
-
Lung / drug effects
-
Lung / pathology
-
Lung / virology
-
Lysine / metabolism
-
NF-kappa B / genetics
-
NF-kappa B / immunology
-
Pandemics
-
Pneumonia, Viral / blood
-
Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
-
Pneumonia, Viral / immunology
-
Pneumonia, Viral / pathology
-
Primary Cell Culture
-
Prognosis
-
Protein Processing, Post-Translational*
-
Respiratory Insufficiency / blood
-
Respiratory Insufficiency / diagnosis*
-
Respiratory Insufficiency / immunology
-
Respiratory Insufficiency / pathology
-
SARS-CoV-2
-
Severity of Illness Index
-
Transforming Growth Factor beta / antagonists & inhibitors
-
Transforming Growth Factor beta / genetics
-
Transforming Growth Factor beta / immunology*
Substances
-
Antibodies, Neutralizing
-
Biomarkers
-
Extracellular Matrix Proteins
-
NF-kappa B
-
Transforming Growth Factor beta
-
betaIG-H3 protein
-
Lysine