Exosomes from COVID-19 Patients Carry Tenascin-C and Fibrinogen-β in Triggering Inflammatory Signals in Cells of Distant Organ
SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause cytokine storm and may overshoot immunity in humans; however, it remains to be determined whether virus-induced soluble mediators from infected cells are carried by exosomes as vehicles to distant organs and cause tissue damage in COVID-19 patients. We took an unbiased...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/6/3184 |
| Summary: | SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause cytokine storm and may overshoot immunity in humans; however, it remains to be determined whether virus-induced soluble mediators from infected cells are carried by exosomes as vehicles to distant organs and cause tissue damage in COVID-19 patients. We took an unbiased proteomic approach for analyses of exosomes isolated from plasma of healthy volunteers and COVID-19 patients. Our results revealed that tenascin-C (TNC) and fibrinogen-β (FGB) are highly abundant in exosomes from COVID-19 patients’ plasma compared with that of healthy normal controls. Since TNC and FGB stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokines via the Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway, we examined the status of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C–C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) expression upon exposure of hepatocytes to exosomes from COVID-19 patients and observed significant increase compared with that from healthy subjects. Together, our results demonstrate that TNC and FGB are transported through plasma exosomes and potentially trigger pro-inflammatory cytokine signaling in cells of distant organ. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |