Intracellular peptides in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients

• Published in: iScience 2023-09, Vol.26 (9), p.107542-107542, Article 107542
• Main Authors: Martucci, Luiz Felipe, Eichler, Rosangela A.S., Silva, Renée N.O., Costa, Tiago J., Tostes, Rita C., Busatto, Geraldo F., Seelaender, Marilia C.L., Duarte, Alberto J.S., Souza, Heraldo P., Ferro, Emer S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Microbiology; Public health; Virology
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107542

Intracellular peptides (InPeps) generated by the orchestrated action of the proteasome and intracellular peptidases have biological and pharmacological significance. Here, human plasma relative concentration of specific InPeps was compared between 175 patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and 45 SARS-CoV-2 non-infected patients; 2,466 unique peptides were identified, of which 67% were InPeps. The results revealed differences of a specific group of peptides in human plasma comparing non-infected individuals to patients infected by SARS-CoV-2, following the results of the semi-quantitative analyses by isotope-labeled electrospray mass spectrometry. The protein-protein interactions networks enriched pathways, drawn by genes encoding the proteins from which the peptides originated, revealed the presence of the coronavirus disease/COVID-19 network solely in the group of patients fatally infected by SARS-CoV-2. Thus, modulation of the relative plasma levels of specific InPeps could be employed as a predictive tool for disease outcome. [Display omitted] •SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to the modulation of specific InPeps levels in human plasma•InPeps uncovered coronavirus-associated protein-protein interaction network•The biological significance of InPeps was corroborated by the present study Virology; Public health; Microbiology