Fig. 4. GATA6 is a proviral host factor that is upregulated in response to infection.

a Control, GATA6, and ACE2 disrupted Calu-3 cells were infected with WT-SARS-CoV-2 at the indicated MOI. Cell viability was visualized by light microscopy 48 h post-infection. Representative images of three independent replicates are shown. b Supernatants were collected from WT, ACE2, and GATA6 knockout cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 at the indicated time points. Virus production, as measured by plaque-forming units (PFU) per milliliter, was determined by plaque assay. Data were analyzed from three biologically independent experiments by two-way ANOVA with two-sided Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, comparing each KO cells sample to the WT. Shown are means ± SD. *p < 0.0001. c Control and GATA6-disrupted Calu-3 cells were infected with the Alpha or the Beta VOCs at MOI = 0.002. Cell viability was visualized by light microscopy 48 h post-infection. Representative images of three independent replicates are shown. d Cell viability assay of control and GATA6-disrupted Calu-3 cells infected with the indicated SARS-CoV-2 variant at MOI of 0.002 for 48 h, and stained with crystal violet. One of three repetitions is shown. e Real-time PCR quantification of WT-SARS-CoV-2, Alpha, Beta, and Delta VOCs levels in infected control and GATA6-disrupted Calu-3 cells. Cells were infected using MOI = 0.002 for 48 h. Data were analyzed from three biologically independent experiments by one-way ANOVA with two-sided Šídák’s multiple comparisons test. Shown are means ± SD. ****p < 0.0001. f real-time PCR quantification of control and GATA6-disrupted Vero-E6 cells infected with WT-SARS-CoV-2 at MOI of 0.002 for 48 h. Shown are means ± SD. Data were analyzed from six biologically independent experiments by two-tailed student’s t-test. p = 0.19. ns not significant. g Cell viability assay of control and GATA6-disrupted Vero-E6 cells infected with WT-SARS-CoV-2 at MOI of 0.002 for 48 h, and stained with crystal violet. One of three repetitions is shown. h real-time PCR measurements of ACE2 and GATA6 mRNA levels relative to GAPDH amount in negative (uninfected) and positive (infected) nasopharyngeal-swab samples from symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals Data were analyzed by two-tailed student’s t-test, *p < 0.05. i Expression levels of GATA6 at different times along SARS-CoV-2 infection in Calu-3 cells⁶⁷ normalized to transcripts per million (TPM) values. Values from single replicates shown for 3 h and 5 h. Mean values of duplicates shown for uninfected and 8 h in red, and individual replicate values are presented as black points. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.