@article{2999747,
    title = "Upregulation of human endogenous retroviruses in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of covid-19 patients",
    author = "Kitsou, K. and Kotanidou, A. and Paraskevis, D. and Karamitros, T. and Katzourakis, A. and Tedder, I. and Hurst, T. and Sapounas, S. and Kotsinas, A. and Gorgoulis, V. and Spoulou, V. and Tsiodras, S. and Lagiou, P. and Magiorkinis, G.",
    journal = "Microbiology Spectrum",
    year = "2021",
    volume = "9",
    number = "2",
    publisher = "American Society for Microbiology",
    issn = "2165-0497",
    doi = "10.1128/Spectrum.01260-21",
    keywords = "aging;  Article;  bronchoalveolar lavage fluid;  cell aging;  controlled study;  coronavirus disease 2019;  disease exacerbation;  disease severity;  HBEC cell line (bronchial epithelium);  human;  human cell;  Human endogenous retrovirus;  immunosenescence;  inflammation;  mortality;  nonhuman;  peripheral blood mononuclear cell;  Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2;  upregulation;  bronchiole;  bronchoalveolar lavage fluid;  cytology;  endogenous retrovirus;  epithelium cell;  genetics;  growth, development and aging;  isolation and purification;  mononuclear cell;  pathology;  respiratory mucosa;  upregulation;  virology, transcriptome, Bronchioles;  Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid;  COVID-19;  Endogenous Retroviruses;  Epithelial Cells;  Humans;  Inflammation;  Leukocytes, Mononuclear;  Respiratory Mucosa;  SARS-CoV-2;  Transcriptome;  Up-Regulation",
    abstract = "Severe COVID-19 pneumonia has been associated with the development of intense inflammatory responses during the course of infections with SARS-CoV-2. Given that human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are known to be activated during and participate in inflammatory processes, we examined whether HERV dysregulation signatures are present in COVID-19 patients. By comparing transcriptomes of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of COVID-19 patients and healthy controls, and peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) from patients and controls, we have shown that HERVs are intensely dysregulated in BALF of COVID-19 patients compared to those in BALF of healthy control patients but not in PBMCs. In particular, upregulation in the expression of specific HERV families was detected in BALF samples of COVID-19 patients, with HERV-FRD being the most highly upregulated family among the families analyzed. In addition, we compared the expression of HERVs in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) without and after senescence induction in an oncogene-induced senescence model in order to quantitatively measure changes in the expression of HERVs in bronchial cells during the process of cellular senescence. This apparent difference of HERV dysregulation between PBMCs and BALF warrants further studies in the involvement of HERVs in inflammatory pathogenetic mechanisms as well as exploration of HERVs as potential biomarkers for disease progression. Furthermore, the increase in the expression of HERVs in senescent HBECs in comparison to that in noninduced HBECs provides a potential link for increased COVID-19 severity and mortality in aged populations. © 2021 American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved."
}