Interplay of Antibody and Cytokine Production Reveals CXCL13 as a Potential Novel Biomarker of Lethal SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Alexander M. Horspool, Theodore Kieffer, Brynnan P. Russ, Megan A. DeJong, M. Allison Wolf, Jacqueline M. Karakiozis, Brice J. Hickey, Paolo Fagone, Danyel H. Tacker, Justin R. Bevere, Iván Martínez, Mariette Barbier, Peter L. Perrotta, F. Heath Damron
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is continuing to impact the global population, and knowledge of the immune response to COVID-19 is still developing. This study assesses the interplay of different parts of the immune system during COVID-19 disease. We demonstrate that COVID-19 patients produce antibodies to three proteins of the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) and identify many other immunological proteins that are involved during infection. The data suggest that one of these proteins (CXCL13) may be a novel biomarker for severe COVID-19 that can be readily measured in blood. This information combined with our broad-scale analysis of immune activity during COVID-19 provides new information on the immunological response throughout the course of disease and identifies a novel potential marker for assessing disease severity.