Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41746733›Full record

ArticleJCI insight2026

Atypical memory B cell clonal expansion and inflammatory programs associate with platelet-activating antibody development in COVID-19.

Nathan Witman, Mei Yu, Yuqi Zhang, Kexin Gai, Yuhong Chen, Lu Zhou, Christine Nguyen, Wen Zhu, Yongwei Zheng, Shawn Jobe and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JCI insight, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Nathan WitmanDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Mei YuVersiti Blood Research Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Yuqi ZhangDepartment of Pathology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Kexin GaiDepartment of Pathology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Yuhong ChenVersiti Blood Research Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Lu ZhouDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Christine NguyenDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Wen ZhuDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Yongwei ZhengVersiti Blood Research Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Shawn JobeVersiti Blood Research Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Mary Beth GrahamDepartment of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Weiguo CuiDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Demin WangDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Renren WenDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

Funding

The Immunobiology of Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombotic ThrombocytopeniaP01HL167668 · NHLBI · VERSITI WISCONSIN, INC. · PI Mortimer Poncz · 2024 to 2026
$10.1M
B cell responses in heparin-induced thrombocytopeniaR01HL130724 · NHLBI · VERSITI WISCONSIN, INC. · PI WANG, DEMIN · 2017 to 2024
$4.8M
PLC?s in B cell biology and autoimmunityR01AI079087 · NIAID · VERSITI WISCONSIN, INC. · PI WANG, DEMIN · 2008 to 2018
$4.4M
Molecular Basis of the Humoral Immune Response in Heparin-Induced ThrombocytopeniaR01HL148120 · NHLBI · VERSITI WISCONSIN, INC. · PI Renren Wen · 2019 to 2026
$3.8M
B-cell response and thrombotic complications in COVID-19R01HL161127 · NHLBI · VERSITI WISCONSIN, INC. · PI WEN, RENREN · 2022 to 2025
$2.6M
NHLBI NIH HHS P01 HL167668NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL130724NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL148120NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL161127NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI079087
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Patients with COVID-19 who develop platelet-activating antibodies represent a subset at heightened thrombotic risk, yet the immune features associated with this response remains to be defined. We applied single-cell RNA-seq of B and T cells, single B cell V(D)J-seq, and plasma cytokine and chemokine analysis to define immune signatures distinguishing patients who did (PEA+) or did not (PEA-) develop these antibodies. Patients positive for PEA showed prominent transcriptional enrichment of inflammatory, antigen presentation, and B cell receptor signaling pathways within antigen-experienced B cell subsets. Expanded B cell clones in patients positive for PEA were disproportionately enriched within atypical memory B cells and exhibited upregulated IFN-γ-response signatures, increased proliferative mutational patterns, limited class switching, and a significant overrepresentation of RKH/Y5 heavy-chain motifs associated with platelet-activating antibodies, consistent with an extrafollicular-biased response. Parallel T cell profiling revealed IL-12 pathway enrichment across most T cell subsets, increased IFN-γ transcription, and elevated plasma levels of Th1-associated cytokines in patients positive for PEA. Collectively, these data highlight a coordinated inflammatory environment marked by Th1-skewed T cell activation and selective expansion of atypical memory B cell clones carrying RKH/Y5 motifs, defining immunologic features associated with platelet-activating antibody development in COVID-19.

Indexed as

B-LymphocytesCOVID-19Memory B CellsCytokinesFemaleHumansImmunologic MemoryInflammationInterferon-gammaMaleSARS-CoV-2CytokinesInterferon-gammaB cellsCOVID-19ImmunologyPlateletsVascular biology

Identifiers

PMID41746733
PMCPMC13135393

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.