ArticleNature biotechnology2020
COVID-19 severity correlates with airway epithelium-immune cell interactions identified by single-cell analysis.
Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph
Article in Nature biotechnology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 709 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
709citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
23.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
709 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,104 citations in OpenAlex.
- Incidence, mortality and risk factors of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in critically ill patients during the COVID-19 era: a global systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-Analysis of COVID-19 BAL Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals Alveolar Epithelial Transitions and Unique Alveolar Epithelial Cell Fates.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2023Pooled it
- Human memory T cell dynamics after aluminum-adjuvanted inactivated whole-virion SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Article
- Systems genetics analysis reveals immune mediators of coronavirus disease severity in mice.Genetics · 2026Article
- Review
- COVID-19-Associated Fungal Co-Infections: Pathogenesis, Diagnostics, Biomarkers, and Therapeutic Strategies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Cadherin 1 negatively regulates SARS-CoV-2 infection in the olfactory epithelium.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Deconformer: efficient cell-type composition profiling of cfRNA across diverse cell types.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2026Article
- Safety, feasibility, and exploratory biomarker findings of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells in hospitalized severe COVID-19: a phase I/II randomized trial.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Integrated multi-PTM omics reveals key host pathways in human coronavirus 229E infection.Redox biology · 2026Article
- Host-Directed Antiviral Strategies Against Influenza Viruses: Host Targets, Multi-Omics Approaches and AI-Assisted Discovery.Veterinary sciences · 2026Review
- Epidemiology and factors associated with Talaromyces marneffei detection in the mainland of China, 2022-2024: a cross-sectional study of hospitalized patients.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Efferocytosis of apoptotic bodies drives SARS-CoV-2 infection and macrophage inflammation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Molecular mechanisms and recent advances in cellular senescence.Cell & bioscience · 2026Review
- Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Compartmentalization in Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026Article
- A high dimensionality approach reveals immunopathogenic responses driving severe pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Pathogen-specific host responses define distinct pneumonia endotypes in the human lung.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Unique nasal cell states induced by common pediatric respiratory viruses.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Co-Culture Systems to Study Epithelial-Immune Interactions During SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Current protocols · 2026Article
649 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
36 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Robert Lorenz Chua *Center for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5945-9957
Soeren Lukassen *Center for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7045-6327
Saskia Trump *Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9894-1807
Bianca P Hennig *Center for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7733-8160
Daniel Wendisch *Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1968-5751
Fabian PottInstitute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3700-1691
Olivia DebnathCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Loreen ThürmannMolecular Epidemiology Unit, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1109-1924
Florian KurthDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3807-473X
Maria Theresa VölkerDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Julia KazmierskiInstitute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7962-2165
Bernd TimmermannSequencing Core Facility, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany.
Sven TwardziokCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Stefan SchneiderCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Felix MachleidtDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6108-5269
Holger Müller-RedetzkyDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Melanie MaierInstitute of Virology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Alexander KrannichClinical Study Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Sein SchmidtClinical Study Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Felix BalzerDepartment of Anestesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Johannes LiebigCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9188-036X
Jennifer LoskeMolecular Epidemiology Unit, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3222-9777
Norbert SuttorpDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Jürgen EilsCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Naveed IshaqueCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8426-901X
Uwe Gerd LiebertInstitute of Virology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5129-0875
Christof von KalleClinical Study Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Andreas HockeDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Martin WitzenrathDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Christine GoffinetInstitute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3959-004X
Christian DrostenInstitute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7923-0519
Sven LaudiDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. sven.laudi@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2117-0944
Irina LehmannMolecular Epidemiology Unit, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany. irina.lehmann@charite.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8875-5587
Christian ConradCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. christian.conrad@charite.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7036-342X
Leif-Erik SanderDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany. leif-erik.sander@charite.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0476-9947
Roland EilsCenter for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. roland.eils@charite.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0034-4036
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · DEUniversity Hospital Leipzig · DEHeidelberg University · DEMax Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics · DEUniversität Hamburg · DE
Funding
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) 01ZX1304BBundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) 031A537B, 031A533A, 031A538A, 031A533B, 031A535A, 031A537C, 031A534A, 031A532BBundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) FKZ 01KI20160ADeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) 114933180European Commission (EC) 874710
Abstract
To investigate the immune response and mechanisms associated with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on nasopharyngeal and bronchial samples from 19 clinically well-characterized patients with moderate or critical disease and from five healthy controls. We identified airway epithelial cell types and states vulnerable to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In patients with COVID-19, epithelial cells showed an average three-fold increase in expression of the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor ACE2, which correlated with interferon signals by immune cells. Compared to moderate cases, critical cases exhibited stronger interactions between epithelial and immune cells, as indicated by ligand-receptor expression profiles, and activated immune cells, including inflammatory macrophages expressing CCL2, CCL3, CCL20, CXCL1, CXCL3, CXCL10, IL8, IL1B and TNF. The transcriptional differences in critical cases compared to moderate cases likely contribute to clinical observations of heightened inflammatory tissue damage, lung injury and respiratory failure. Our data suggest that pharmacologic inhibition of the CCR1 and/or CCR5 pathways might suppress immune hyperactivation in critical COVID-19.
Indexed as
Single-Cell AnalysisTranscriptomeAdultAgedAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2Bronchoalveolar Lavage FluidCell CommunicationCell DifferentiationCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19Epithelial CellsFemaleHumansImmune SystemInflammationLongitudinal StudiesACE2 protein, humanAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390
Registered trials
None linked
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.