2022
Inflammasome activation in infected macrophages drives COVID-19 pathology
Sefik E, Qu R, Junqueira C, Kaffe E, Mirza H, Zhao J, Brewer JR, Han A, Steach HR, Israelow B, Blackburn HN, Velazquez SE, Chen YG, Halene S, Iwasaki A, Meffre E, Nussenzweig M, Lieberman J, Wilen CB, Kluger Y, Flavell RA. Inflammasome activation in infected macrophages drives COVID-19 pathology. Nature 2022, 606: 585-593. PMID: 35483404, PMCID: PMC9288243, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04802-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsInflammasome activationLung inflammationInflammatory responseInfected macrophagesSARS-CoV-2 infectionHuman macrophagesChronic lung pathologyPersistent lung inflammationSevere COVID-19Immune inflammatory responseInflammatory cytokine productionHumanized mouse modelNLRP3 inflammasome pathwayCOVID-19 pathologyCOVID-19SARS-CoV-2Productive viral cycleHyperinflammatory stateChronic stageIL-18Cytokine productionInflammatory cytokinesLung pathologyInflammasome pathwayInterleukin-1
2021
Kynurenic acid may underlie sex-specific immune responses to COVID-19
Cai Y, Kim DJ, Takahashi T, Broadhurst DI, Yan H, Ma S, Rattray NJW, Casanovas-Massana A, Israelow B, Klein J, Lucas C, Mao T, Moore AJ, Muenker MC, Oh JE, Silva J, Wong P, team Y, Ko AI, Khan SA, Iwasaki A, Johnson CH. Kynurenic acid may underlie sex-specific immune responses to COVID-19. Science Signaling 2021, 14: eabf8483. PMID: 34230210, PMCID: PMC8432948, DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.abf8483.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsKynurenic acidImmune responseClinical outcomesSex-specific immune responsesT cell responsesPoor clinical outcomeCOVID-19 patientsCoronavirus disease 2019COVID-19Sex-related differencesMale patientsCytokine abundanceInflammatory cytokinesKynurenine ratioSerum metabolomeDisease 2019Sex-specific linkKynurenine aminotransferaseCell responsesOld malePatientsMalesOutcomesResponseMetabolites