Ultra-High-Throughput Clinical Proteomics Reveals Classifiers of COVID-19 Infection

• Published in: Cell systems Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 11 - 24.e4
• Main Authors: Messner, Christoph B., Demichev, Vadim, Wendisch, Daniel, Michalick, Laura, White, Matthew, Freiwald, Anja, Textoris-Taube, Kathrin, Vernardis, Spyros I., Egger, Anna-Sophia, Kreidl, Marco, Ludwig, Daniela, Kilian, Christiane, Agostini, Federica, Zelezniak, Aleksej, Thibeault, Charlotte, Pfeiffer, Moritz, Hippenstiel, Stefan, Hocke, Andreas, von Kalle, Christof, Campbell, Archie, Hayward, Caroline, Porteous, David J., Marioni, Riccardo E., Langenberg, Claudia, Lilley, Kathryn S., Kuebler, Wolfgang M., Mülleder, Michael, Drosten, Christian, Suttorp, Norbert, Witzenrath, Martin, Kurth, Florian, Sander, Leif Erik, Ralser, Markus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 22.07.2020; Cell Press
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; antiviral immune response; Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification; Biomarkers - blood; Blood Proteins - analysis; Blood Proteins - metabolism; clinical classifiers; Coronavirus Infections - blood; Coronavirus Infections - classification; Coronavirus Infections - pathology; Coronavirus Infections - virology; COVID-19; COVID-19 infection; Female; high-throughput proteomics; Humans; Male; mass spectrometry; Middle Aged; Pandemics - classification; Pneumonia, Viral - blood; Pneumonia, Viral - classification; Pneumonia, Viral - pathology; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Proteomics - methods; SARS-CoV-2; SWATH-MS; Young Adult; mass spectrometry; SWATH-MS; clinical classifiers; antiviral immune response; COVID-19 infection; high-throughput proteomics
• ISSN: 2405-4712; 2405-4720; 2405-4720
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.05.012

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global challenge, and point-of-care diagnostic classifiers are urgently required. Here, we present a platform for ultra-high-throughput serum and plasma proteomics that builds on ISO13485 standardization to facilitate simple implementation in regulated clinical laboratories. Our low-cost workflow handles up to 180 samples per day, enables high precision quantification, and reduces batch effects for large-scale and longitudinal studies. We use our platform on samples collected from a cohort of early hospitalized cases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and identify 27 potential biomarkers that are differentially expressed depending on the WHO severity grade of COVID-19. They include complement factors, the coagulation system, inflammation modulators, and pro-inflammatory factors upstream and downstream of interleukin 6. All protocols and software for implementing our approach are freely available. In total, this work supports the development of routine proteomic assays to aid clinical decision making and generate hypotheses about potential COVID-19 therapeutic targets. [Display omitted] •A standardized, ultra-high-throughput clinical platform for serum and plasma proteomics•Platform enables high precision quantification of 180 human proteomes per day at low cost•27 biomarkers are differentially expressed between WHO severity grades for COVID-19•Biomarkers include proteins not previously associated with COVID-19 infection Messner et al. present a standardized, low-cost, ultra-high-throughput platform for serum and plasma proteomics designed for clinical use and apply it to a cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. They identify 27 potential biomarkers that are differentially expressed depending on the WHO severity grade of COVID-19.