Human lung organoid for modeling infection and disease conditions (Lung II)

We sought to define the host immune response, a.k.a, the “cytokine storm” that has been implicated in fatal COVID-19 using an AI-based approach. Over 45,000 publicly available transcriptomic datasets of viral pandemics were analyzed to extract a 166-gene signature using ACE2 as a ‘seed’ gene; ACE2 was rationalized because the receptor it encodes enables the virus that causes Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, to enter host cells. The signature was surprisingly conserved in all viral pandemics, including COVID-19, inspiring the nomenclature ViP-signature. A subset of 20-genes classified disease severity in respiratory pandemics. The ViP signatures pinpointed airway epithelial and myeloid cells as the major contributors of an IL-15 cytokine storm, and epithelial and NK cell destruction as determinants of severity/fatality. They also helped formulate precise therapeutic goals to reduce disease symptoms and severity. Thus, the ViP signatures provide a quantitative and qualitative framework for titrating the immune response in viral pandemics and may serve as a powerful unbiased tool in our armamentarium to rapidly assess disease severity and vet candidate drugs. Human lung organoids were grown in standard culture, ALI and monolayer conditions and infected with SARS-CoV-2.