Chinese scientists have made new discoveries in the research of new coronavirus.
The Science and Technology Daily reporter learned from West Lake University on May 31 that recently, the Proteome Big Data Laboratory led by the researcher Guo Tiannan of the School of Life Sciences of the school, together with the cooperation team, carried out a system of protein and metabolite molecules in the blood of patients with new coronary pneumonia Detection.
They found that there are many unique molecular changes in the serum of severe patients with new coronary pneumonia, and found a series of biomarkers, which is expected to provide guidance for the prediction of mild patients to severe development. Related research results were published online in the journal Cell.
"Globally, the number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia has reached millions. However, at present, our understanding of it mainly stays at the level of clinical symptoms and imaging features, and little is known about the changes of the disease at the microscopic molecular level." Guo Tiannan said.
The Guo Tiannan team collaborated with other teams to perform safe processing and mass spectrometry analysis on 99 serum samples after virus inactivation treatment. According to the current clinical diagnostic criteria, these blood samples were divided into a control (healthy) group, a suspected but actually normal influenza group, a mild coronavirus infection group, and a severe coronavirus infection group.
The researchers used high-resolution mass spectrometry equipment and machine learning methods to obtain the proteome and metabolome spectra of the samples, and performed a panoramic determination of the relative concentrations of proteins and metabolites in the serum samples, thereby revealing: the existence of severe patients A variety of unique molecular regulation.
The results of the study showed that compared with the control (healthy) group, the common influenza group and the mild group, there were 93 unique protein expressions and 204 characteristically altered metabolic molecules in samples of severe patients with new coronary pneumonia, including 50 proteins It is related to macrophages, complement system and platelet degranulation in patients.
They also found that more than 100 amino acids and more than 100 lipids were significantly reduced in patients with severe new pneumonia. The researchers believe that this may be caused by the rapid expansion of the virus, which provides a reference for clinicians to monitor the disease and formulate adjustments to the treatment plan.
In addition, on the basis of mass spectrometry data, Guo Tiannan's team used machine learning method "Sali Taojin" to screen out 22 proteins and 7 metabolites characteristic of critical patients. The researchers analyzed that patients whose serum sample composition meets this combination are likely to be severe patients, or have a high probability of developing into severe cases.
"This study shows that it is possible to use serum protein and metabolite biomarkers to predict severe patients with new coronary pneumonia. The research data also reveals the molecular pathophysiology of new coronary pneumonia, which is expected to help develop anti-new crown virus therapy." The results of the study also need to be verified in more independent clinical cohorts.
Our reporter Liu Yuanyuan