Uncovering the Pathophysiological Pattern of Expression from Integrated Analysis across Uniformly Processed RNA Sequencing COVID-19 Datasets
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Updated: Sep 15, 2025
High-Throughput Transcriptome Analysis for Investigating Host-Pathogen Interactions
Published on: March 5, 2022
Andrew Cole1, Bryce Fukuda2, Thomas Dahlstrom2
1Strathmore Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Background:
Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) affects millions globally, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying acute COVID-19 and its chronic sequelae remain poorly understood.
Methods:
We performed an integrative transcriptomic analysis of three independent RNA-seq datasets, capturing the complete COVID-19 pathophysiology from health through acute severe infection to post-acute sequelae and mortality (n=142 total samples). We implemented a containerized analytical pipeline from data download, quantification, differential gene expression to uniformly process these three RNA-seq datasets.
Results:
Our analysis reveals striking molecular dichotomies contrasting disease phases with profound clinical implications. Acute severe/critical COVID-19 reveals predominant enrichment of TNF-α signaling via NF-κB pathways (normalized enrichment score >2.5, FDR <0.001), reflecting a cytokine storm pathophysiology characterized by rapid inflammatory developments involving IL-6, TNF-α, and anti-apoptotic responses. In contrast, PASC patients exhibit dominant enrichment of Myc Targets V1 and Oxidative Phosphorylation pathways (NES >2.2, FDR <0.005), indicating important shifts toward cellular adaptation. Pathway signature analysis identifies core differentially expressed genes that reliably distinguish disease phases, thereby offering objective biomarkers for precision diagnosis and monitoring.
Conclusions:
These findings establish a comprehensive molecular framework distinguishing acute inflammatory from chronic metabolic COVID-19 phases, with potential clinical applicability. TNF-α/NF-κB pathway signatures identify patients at risk for severe disease progression, while Myc/OXPHOS signatures allow objective PASC diagnosis, addressing current reliance on subjective and eliminative diagnosis. This integrative analytical framework has utility beyond COVID-19, offering an applicable approach for precision medicine implementation across other diseases processes.
Clinical Significance:
This study transforms COVID-19 from a symptom-based to a molecularly-defined disease spectrum, enabling precision diagnosis, prognostic monitoring, classification, and targeted therapeutic possibilities based on pathway-specific biomarkers rather than subjective clinical assessments.
