Wendao Liu: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Johnathan Jia: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Yulin Dai: Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Wenhao Chen: Immunobiology and Transplant Science Center, Department of Surgery, Houston Methodist Research Institute and Institute for Academic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Guangsheng Pei: Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Qiheng Yan: Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Zhongming Zhao: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Understanding the molecular mechanisms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathogenesis and immune response is vital for developing therapies. Single-cell RNA sequencing has been applied to delineate the cellular heterogeneity of the host response toward COVID-19 in multiple tissues and organs. Here, we review the applications and findings from over 80 original COVID-19 single-cell RNA sequencing studies as well as many secondary analysis studies. We describe that single-cell RNA sequencing reveals multiple features of COVID-19 patients with different severity, including cell populations with proportional alteration, COVID-19-induced genes and pathways, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in single cells, and adaptation of immune repertoire. We also collect published single-cell RNA sequencing datasets from original studies. Finally, we discuss the limitations in current studies and perspectives for future advance.
