Long‐lived macrophage reprogramming drives spike protein‐mediated inflammasome activation in COVID‐19

• Published in: EMBO molecular medicine Vol. 13; no. 8; pp. e14150 - n/a
• Main Authors: Theobald, Sebastian J, Simonis, Alexander, Georgomanolis, Theodoros, Kreer, Christoph, Zehner, Matthias, Eisfeld, Hannah S, Albert, Marie‐Christine, Chhen, Jason, Motameny, Susanne, Erger, Florian, Fischer, Julia, Malin, Jakob J, Gräb, Jessica, Winter, Sandra, Pouikli, Andromachi, David, Friederike, Böll, Boris, Koehler, Philipp, Vanshylla, Kanika, Gruell, Henning, Suárez, Isabelle, Hallek, Michael, Fätkenheuer, Gerd, Jung, Norma, Cornely, Oliver A, Lehmann, Clara, Tessarz, Peter, Altmüller, Janine, Nürnberg, Peter, Kashkar, Hamid, Klein, Florian, Koch, Manuel, Rybniker, Jan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.08.2021; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; EMBO Press; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Springer Nature
• Subjects: Adenosine triphosphate; Analysis; Antigens; Cell activation; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Cytokines; EMBO19; EMBO23; Epigenetic inheritance; Epigenetics; Gene expression; Health aspects; Immunogenicity; Immunological memory; Infections; inflammasome; Inflammasomes; Innate immunity; Kinases; macrophage; Macrophages; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Monocytes; NLRP3; Pathogens; Patients; Proteins; SARS‐CoV‐2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Spike protein; Statistical analysis; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; macrophage; NLRP3; innate immunity; SARS‐CoV‐2; inflammasome
• ISSN: 1757-4676; 1757-4684; 1757-4684
• DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202114150

Innate immunity triggers responsible for viral control or hyperinflammation in COVID‐19 are largely unknown. Here we show that the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein (S‐protein) primes inflammasome formation and release of mature interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) in macrophages derived from COVID‐19 patients but not in macrophages from healthy SARS‐CoV‐2 naïve individuals. Furthermore, longitudinal analyses reveal robust S‐protein‐driven inflammasome activation in macrophages isolated from convalescent COVID‐19 patients, which correlates with distinct epigenetic and gene expression signatures suggesting innate immune memory after recovery from COVID‐19. Importantly, we show that S‐protein‐driven IL‐1β secretion from patient‐derived macrophages requires non‐specific monocyte pre‐activation in vivo to trigger NLRP3‐inflammasome signaling. Our findings reveal that SARS‐CoV‐2 infection causes profound and long‐lived reprogramming of macrophages resulting in augmented immunogenicity of the SARS‐CoV‐2 S‐protein, a major vaccine antigen and potent driver of adaptive and innate immune signaling. SYNOPSIS SARS‐CoV‐2 infection leads to hyperinflammatory syndromes in a subset of patients. We show that human primary macrophages require genome‐wide transcriptional modifications for pro‐inflammatory signaling upon stimulation with the SARS‐CoV‐2 surface glycoprotein (S‐protein). The SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein drives NRLP3 inflammasome activation in COVID‐19 patient derived macrophages. Macrophages from SARS‐CoV‐2 naïve individuals fail to process and subsequently secrete IL‐1β upon stimulation with the S‐protein. The S‐protein is a pathogen‐associated molecular pattern (PAMP) requiring macrophage pre‐activation for NLRP3 inflammasome formation. Inflammasome activation and IL‐1β signaling represent attractive targets for pharmacological interventions in severe COVID‐19. Graphical Abstract SARS‐CoV‐2 infection leads to hyperinflammatory syndromes in a subset of patients. We show that human primary macrophages require genome‐wide transcriptional modifications for pro‐inflammatory signaling upon stimulation with the SARS‐CoV‐2 surface glycoprotein (S‐protein).