# COVID-19 Related Tissue Immunopathology

> **NIH VA I01** · PHILADELPHIA VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · —

## Abstract

Project Summary
An ongoing outbreak of a novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives
and disrupted social infrastructures around the world. Immunopathology from hyperactive host immune system
contributes to the clinical severity of COVID-19. The proposed study will test the hypothesis that pathologic T
cell and B cell interactions promote autoantibody production to mediate tissue damage in critically ill COVID-19
patients. In Aim 1, we will quantify the breadth and the specificity of antibody responses to self-antigens in
COVID-19 patients. The goal of this aim is to measure the prevalence of autoantibodies and their functional
significance in relationship to clinical disease severity. In Aim 2, we will define the structural-functional alterations
to the immune subsets across multiple tissue compartments. We will apply high-dimensional imaging mass
cytometry on autopsy samples from individuals who died from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The immune analyses will
focus on B cell and T cell interactions, with additional markers for macrophages, neutrophils, and stromal
compartments to comprehensively map the spatial organization of the immune microenvironments in LN, spleen,
lung, heart, and the gastrointestinal tract. Antibodies targeting viral proteins and RNA intermediates will enable
simultaneous visualization of infected cells, which will provide further insights into the relationship between viral
infection and the immune response at the tissue-level. The proposed study will elucidate how autoantibodies
may contribute to the immunopathology of COVID-19 and provide cellular
unprecedented details on the
architecture underlying COVID-related tissue damage. Insights into how SARS-CoV-2 causes host pathology
could aid the identification of new targets for COVID-19 treatments to benefit veterans and the general population
at large.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10350633
- **Project number:** 5I01BX005422-02
- **Recipient organization:** PHILADELPHIA VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Su
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10350633

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10350633, COVID-19 Related Tissue Immunopathology (5I01BX005422-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10350633. Licensed CC0.

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