Extremes of age are associated with differences in the expression of selected pattern recognition receptor genes and ACE2, the receptor for SARS-CoV-2: implications for the epidemiology of COVID-19 disease

Stephen W Bickler; David M Cauvi; Kathleen M Fisch; James M Prieto; Alicia G Sykes; Hariharan Thangarajah; David A Lazar; Romeo C Ignacio; Dale R Gerstmann; Allen F Ryan; Philip E Bickler; Antonio De Maio

doi:10.1186/s12920-021-00970-7

Extremes of age are associated with differences in the expression of selected pattern recognition receptor genes and ACE2, the receptor for SARS-CoV-2: implications for the epidemiology of COVID-19 disease

BMC Med Genomics. 2021 May 24;14(1):138. doi: 10.1186/s12920-021-00970-7.

Authors

Stephen W Bickler^{1

2

3}, David M Cauvi^{4

5}, Kathleen M Fisch⁶, James M Prieto^{7

8}, Alicia G Sykes^{7

8}, Hariharan Thangarajah^{7

4}, David A Lazar^{7

4}, Romeo C Ignacio^{7

4}, Dale R Gerstmann⁹, Allen F Ryan^{4

10}, Philip E Bickler¹¹, Antonio De Maio^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Rady Children's Hospital, Rady Children's Hospital, University of California San Diego, 3030 Children's Way, San Diego, CA, 92123, USA. sbickler@health.ucsd.edu.
² Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. sbickler@health.ucsd.edu.
³ Center for Investigations of Health and Education Disparities, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. sbickler@health.ucsd.edu.
⁴ Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁵ Center for Investigations of Health and Education Disparities, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁶ Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁷ Rady Children's Hospital, Rady Children's Hospital, University of California San Diego, 3030 Children's Way, San Diego, CA, 92123, USA.
⁸ Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁹ Timpanogos Regional Hospital, Orem, UT, USA.
¹⁰ VA Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Anesthesia, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background: Older aged adults and those with pre-existing conditions are at highest risk for severe COVID-19 associated outcomes.

Methods: Using a large dataset of genome-wide RNA-seq profiles derived from human dermal fibroblasts (GSE113957) we investigated whether age affects the expression of pattern recognition receptor (PRR) genes and ACE2, the receptor for SARS-CoV-2.

Results: Extremes of age are associated with increased expression of selected PRR genes, ACE2 and four genes that encode proteins that have been shown to interact with SAR2-CoV-2 proteins.

Conclusions: Assessment of PRR expression might provide a strategy for stratifying the risk of severe COVID-19 disease at both the individual and population levels.

Keywords: Aging; Pattern recognition receptors; SARS-CoV-2; Skin fibroblasts; Toll-like receptor 4.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
COVID-19 / genetics*
COVID-19 / virology*
Child
Dermis / pathology
Fibroblasts / metabolism
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation*
Humans
Middle Aged
Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / genetics*
RNA-Seq
Receptors, Pattern Recognition / genetics*
Receptors, Virus / genetics*
Receptors, Virus / metabolism
SARS-CoV-2 / metabolism*
Young Adult

Substances

Receptors, Pattern Recognition
Receptors, Virus
Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding