DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

A method for reducing the number of reliability formulae in reliability expression of weighted-k-out-of-n system

A weighted version of the k-out–of–n system is considered. In the disjoint products version of reliability analysis of weighted–k-out–of– n systems, it is necessary to determine the order in which the weight of components is to be considered. The k–out–of–n :G(F) system consists of n components; each component has its own probability and positive integer weight such that the system is operational (failed) if and only if the total weight of some operational (failure) components is at least k. This paper designs a method to compute the reliability in computing time and in memory space. The proposed method expresses the system reliability in fewer reliability formulae than those already published

Enhancing mechanism of intestinal absorption of highly lipophilic compounds using microemulsion – Quantitative analysis of the partitioning to the mesenteric lymph in intestinal cells

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of the fatty acid alkyl-chain length of a polyethylene glycol (PEG) glyceryl ester, which was used as a microemulsion oil component, on the partitioning of highly lipophilic compounds to the mesenteric lymph after oral administration. Oil blue N, a highly lipophilic anthraquinone derivative, was orally administered to lymph duct-cannulated and untreated rats in two kinds of different microemulsions. Gelucire® 50/13 and Gelucire® 44/14 were used as the oil component with long chain and medium chain fatty acid portions, respectively, of PEG glyceryl esters in microemulsions. The cumulative amount of oil blue N in lymph fluid was almost the same between the two microemulsions, although the transferred amount of oil component (triglyceride) in the lymph after administration of the Gelucire® 50/13 microemulsion was significantly higher than that of the Gelucire® 44/14 microemulsion. On the other hand, the solubility of oil blue N in Gelucire® 44/14 was much higher than that in Gelucire® 50/13. No significant differences were observed between microemulsions in the bioavailability of oil blue N. From these data, the partitioning of oil blue N to the lymph was calculated using a mathematical model, showing that the partitioning ratios of oil blue N to the lymph fluid were almost the same for both microemulsions. The solubility of oil blue N to the oil component of the microemulsions and the transfer of triglycerides to the lymph after administration of the microemulsions counteract each other, leading to similar partitioning ratios of oil blue N to the lymph