Similarities and Differences in the Acute-Phase Response to SARS-CoV-2 in Rhesus Macaques and African Green Monkeys.
Celeste Coleman, Lara A Doyle-Meyers, Kasi E Russell-Lodrigue, Nadia Golden, Breanna Threeton, Kejing Song, Genevieve Pierre, Carl Baribault, Rudolf P Bohm, Nicholas J Maness, Jay K Kolls, Jay Rappaport, Joseph C Mudd
Author Information
Celeste Coleman: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Lara A Doyle-Meyers: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Kasi E Russell-Lodrigue: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Nadia Golden: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Breanna Threeton: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Kejing Song: Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, United States.
Genevieve Pierre: Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, United States.
Carl Baribault: Center for Research & Scientific Computing, Tulane University Information Technology, New Orleans, LA, United States.
Rudolf P Bohm: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Nicholas J Maness: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Jay K Kolls: Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, United States.
Jay Rappaport: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Joseph C Mudd: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States.
Understanding SARS-CoV-2 immune pathology is critical for the development of effective vaccines and treatments. Here, we employed unbiased serial whole-blood transcriptome profiling by weighted gene network correlation analysis (WGCNA) at pre-specified timepoints of infection to understand SARS-CoV-2-related immune alterations in a cohort of rhesus macaques (RMs) and African green monkeys (AGMs) presenting with varying degrees of pulmonary pathology. We found that the bulk of transcriptional changes occurred at day 3 post-infection and normalized to pre-infection levels by 3 weeks. There was evidence of coordination of transcriptional networks in blood (defined by WGCNA) and the nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 burden as well as the absolute monocyte count. Pathway analysis of gene modules revealed prominent regulation of type I and type II interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) in both RMs and AGMs, with the latter species exhibiting a greater breadth of ISG upregulation. Notably, pathways relating to neutrophil degranulation were enriched in blood of SARS-CoV-2 infected AGMs, but not RMs. Our results elude to hallmark similarities as well as differences in the RM and AGM acute response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and may help guide the selection of particular NHP species in modeling aspects of COVID-19 disease outcome.
