In situ single-cell profiling sheds light on IFI27 localisation during SARS-CoV-2 infection

The utilization of single-cell resolved spatial transcriptomics to delineate immune responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection was able to identify macrophages to have elevated expression of IFI27 in areas of infection. CosMxTM technology [CosMxTM Human Universal Cell Characterization RNA Panel (1000-plex) + 20 custom genes; Nanostring, USA] was applied to rapid autopsy lung tissues from 18 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 patients who died from respiratory failure (ARDS), with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by RTqPCR of nasopharyngeal swabs. 2 tissue microarrays were constructed from 30 tissue block cores, with up to 2 cores per patient, resulting 112 fields of view (FoVs) across 60 cores. The following cell surface markers were used for morphology visualization: B2M/CD298, PanCK, CD45, CD3 antibodies and DAPI.