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  • α2,6-Sialylation Is Upregulated in Severe COVID-19, Implicating the Complement Cascade.

α2,6-Sialylation Is Upregulated in Severe COVID-19, Implicating the Complement Cascade.

ACS infectious diseases (2022-10-12)
Rui Qin, Emma Kurz, Shuhui Chen, Briana Zeck, Luis Chiribogas, Dana Jackson, Alex Herchen, Tyson Attia, Michael Carlock, Amy Rapkiewicz, Dafna Bar-Sagi, Bruce Ritchie, Ted M Ross, Lara K Mahal
ABSTRACT

Better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying COVID-19 severity is desperately needed in current times. Although hyper-inflammation drives severe COVID-19, precise mechanisms triggering this cascade and what role glycosylation might play therein are unknown. Here we report the first high-throughput glycomic analysis of COVID-19 plasma samples and autopsy tissues. We find that α2,6-sialylation is upregulated in the plasma of patients with severe COVID-19 and in autopsied lung tissue. This glycan motif is enriched on members of the complement cascade (e.g., C5, C9), which show higher levels of sialylation in severe COVID-19. In the lung tissue, we observe increased complement deposition, associated with elevated α2,6-sialylation levels, corresponding to elevated markers of poor prognosis (IL-6) and fibrotic response. We also observe upregulation of the α2,6-sialylation enzyme ST6GAL1 in patients who succumbed to COVID-19. Our work identifies a heretofore undescribed relationship between sialylation and complement in severe COVID-19, potentially informing future therapeutic development.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
Plasma, from human
Sigma-Aldrich
Anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L), F(ab′)2 fragment, CF640R antibody produced in goat, ~2 mg/mL, affinity isolated antibody, buffered aqueous solution