Gene Expression
Nebulas
Gene Expression NebulasSummary: Pregnant women appear to be at increased risk for severe outcomes associated with COVID-19, but the pathophysiology underlying this increased morbidity and its potential impact on the developing fetus is not well understood. In this study of pregnant women with and without COVID-19, we assessed viral and immune dynamics at the placenta during maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. Viral RNA was only rarely detected in the placentas from SARS-CoV-2-positive women in our cohort, with only 1/11 positive for infection at the maternal-fetal interface. Through bulk RNA transcriptomic analyses, we found that placentas from SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnancies exhibited inflammatory markers of immune activation, even in the majority of samples which did not show local invasion of the virus. These markers are associated with pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and poor fetal outcomes. Overall, this study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is associated with immune activation at the maternal-fetal interface even in the absence of detectable local viral invasion. While this likely represents a protective mechanism shielding the placenta from infection, inflammatory changes in the placenta may also contribute to poor pregnancy outcomes and thus warrant further investigation.
Overall Design: mRNA profiles of placental villous tissue at term delivery from control and SARS-CoV-2-positive mothers
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| Growth Protocol: | - |
| Treatment Protocol: | - |
| Extract Protocol: | Villi were dissected from fresh placental tissue and rinsed three times in PBS. Villous samples were homogenized and centrifuged before RNA isolation using the Qiagen RNAeasy Mini Kit. |
| Library Construction Protocol: | RNA libraries were prepared for sequencing following rRNA depletion using standard Illumina protocols |
| Molecule Type: | rRNA- RNA |
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| Library Layout: | PAIRED |
| Library Strand: | -; Forward |
| Platform: | ILLUMINA |
| Instrument Model: | Illumina HiSeq 2500 |
| Strand-Specific: | Unspecific; Specific |
| Data Resource | GEN Sample ID | GEN Dataset ID | Project ID | BioProject ID | Sample ID | Sample Name | BioSample ID | Sample Accession | Experiment Accession | Release Date | Submission Date | Update Date | Species | Race | Ethnicity | Age | Age Unit | Gender | Source Name | Tissue | Cell Type | Cell Subtype | Cell Line | Disease | Disease State | Development Stage | Mutation | Phenotype | Case Detail | Control Detail | Growth Protocol | Treatment Protocol | Extract Protocol | Library Construction Protocol | Molecule Type | Library Layout | Strand-Specific | Library Strand | Spike-In | Strategy | Platform | Instrument Model | Cell Number | Reads Number | Gbases | AvgSpotLen1 | AvgSpotLen2 | Uniq Mapping Rate | Multiple Mapping Rate | Coverage Rate |
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