puc-header

The SARS-CoV-2 Transcriptional Metabolic Signature in Lung Epithelium

27 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2020 Publication Status: Review Complete

See all articles by Avner Ehrlich

Avner Ehrlich

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Grass Center for Bioengineering

Skyler Uhl

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Department of Microbiology

Konstantinos Ioannidis

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Grass Center for Bioengineering

Matan Hofree

The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT - Klarman Cell Observatory

Benjamin R. tenOever

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Department of Microbiology

Yaakov Nahmias

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Grass Center for Bioengineering

More...

Abstract

Viruses are efficient metabolic engineers that actively rewire host metabolic pathways to support their lifecycle. Charting SARS-CoV-2 induced metabolic changes in lung cells could offer insight into COVID-19 pathogenesis while presenting new therapeutic targets. Here we show that the transcriptional response SARS-CoV-2 in primary lung epithelial cells and biopsies of COVID-19 patients is predominantly metabolic. This transcriptional signature was dominated by changes to lipid metabolism and the induction of IRE1 and PKR pathways of endoplasmic stress in a process regulated by several viral proteins. Transcriptional regulatory analysis of these changes reveals small clusters of transcription factors modulating key enzymes in each pathway. The upregulation of glycolysis and the dysregulation of the citric acid cycle was mediated by NFκB and RELA. While the upregulation of fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis showed a more complex control conditionally modulated by ER-stress activated PPARγ, C/EBP, and PPARα. Viral protein ORF3a appeared to interact with all three pathways suggesting both direct and indirect modulation of host metabolism. Finally, we show that PPARα-agonist fenofibrate reversed the metabolic changes induced by SARS-CoV-2 blocking viral replication. Taken together, our data suggest that elevated lipid metabolism may underlie aspects of COVID-19 pathogenesis, offering new therapeutic avenues in targeting this critical pathway on which the virus relies.

Funding: Funding was provided by European Research Council Consolidator Grants OCLD (project no. 681870) and generous gifts from the Nikoh Foundation and the Sam and Rina Frankel Foundation (YN). This work was additionally funded by generous support from the Marc Haas Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and DARPA’s PREPARE Program (HR0011-20-2-0040). The views, opinions, and/or findings expressed are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government (BRT).

Ethical Approval: Experiments using samples from human subjects were conducted in accordance with local regulations and with the approval of the institutional review board at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai under protocol HS#12-00145.

Suggested Citation

Ehrlich, Avner and Uhl, Skyler and Ioannidis, Konstantinos and Hofree, Matan and tenOever, Benjamin R. and Nahmias, Yaakov, The SARS-CoV-2 Transcriptional Metabolic Signature in Lung Epithelium. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3650499 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3650499
This version of the paper has not been formally peer reviewed.

Avner Ehrlich

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Grass Center for Bioengineering ( email )

Israel

Skyler Uhl

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Department of Microbiology ( email )

United States

Konstantinos Ioannidis

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Grass Center for Bioengineering ( email )

Israel

Matan Hofree

The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT - Klarman Cell Observatory ( email )

415 Main Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

Benjamin R. TenOever

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Department of Microbiology ( email )

United States

Yaakov Nahmias (Contact Author)

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Grass Center for Bioengineering ( email )

Israel

Click here to go to Cell.com

Paper statistics

Downloads
1,295
Abstract Views
34,550
PlumX Metrics