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. 2022 Aug 23;119(2):520–535. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvac139

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Transcriptomic changes in the COVID-19 and IPF vasculature. Schematic representation of vascular transcriptomic rewiring in COVID-19 and IPF vs. control lungs. Upper left panel: the vasculature in (lethal) COVID-19 and IPF lungs harbours a gene expression signature suggestive of vascular leakage, decreased barrier integrity, increased ECM deposition, and possible dampened immunity. Upper right panel: EC-centred interactome analysis revealed various routes of EC-microenvironmental cross-talk that could potentially drive the dysfunctional state of the vasculature in COVID-19 and IPF. Lower panel: ECs in lethal COVID-19 and IPF are dominantly enriched for systemic venous and capillary ECs, whereas general (pulmonary) capillary ECs are decreased in abundance. The transcriptomic signature of systemic ECs suggests an involvement in ECM production/deposition, possibly contributing to the overall fibrotic environment in lethal COVID-19 and IPF. ECM, extracellular matrix; HSPs, heat shock proteins.