May 20, 2021

Diverse Functional Autoantibodies in Patients with COVID-19

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Vaccines and Immunity

Keywords (Tags): immunity

• Elevated levels of autoantibodies (AAbs) targeting extracellular and secreted proteins that modulate immune response were detected in a cohort of COVID-19 patients (n=194) but not in uninfected controls (n=30). In vitro analysis of the plasma concentrations of these targeted proteins indicate altered immunoreceptor signaling and peripheral immune cell composition, suggesting that the AAbs can impair immune function and virologic control. In vivo experiments with mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated that the AAbs can exacerbate disease severity.

Wang et al. (May 19, 2021). Diverse Functional Autoantibodies in Patients with COVID-19. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03631-y