Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Evidence of Endothelial Dysfunction in the Brains of COVID-19 Patients with Implications for Glioblastoma Progression.

{"sci_version": "1.2", "schema": "https://corpus.bntrg.co.uk/sci/1.0/sci.schema.json", "id": "pmid:37239234", "kind": "science-record", "revision": 3, "content_hash": "sha256:924579d2454403e382a6f3f941bf594bf219b8a000825f2e50c639d569d9329e", "created_at": "2026-11-01T19:01:57Z", "updated_at": "2026-11-01T22:09:34Z", "generator": {"name": "corpus-assay-engine", "run_id": "reading-sci-2026-11-01"}, "paper": {"state": "complete", "title": "Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Evidence of Endothelial Dysfunction in the Brains of COVID-19 Patients with Implications for Glioblastoma Progression.", "doi": "10.3390/brainsci13050762", "pmid": "37239234", "authors": ["Abhimanyu Thakur", "Lifan Liang", "Sourav Banerjee", "Kui Zhang"], "journal": "Brain sciences", "year": 2023, "abstract": "BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction is implicated in various inflammatory diseases such as ischemic stroke, heart attack, organ failure, and COVID-19. Recent studies have shown that endothelial dysfunction in the brain is attributed to excessive inflammatory responses caused by the SARS-CoV-2 infection, leading to increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier and consequently neurological damage. Here, we aim to examine the single-cell transcriptomic landscape of endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19 and its implications for glioblastoma (GBM) progression.\nMETHODS: Single-cell transcriptome data GSE131928 and GSE159812 were obtained from the gene expression omnibus (GEO) to analyze the expression profiles of key players in innate immunity and inflammation between brain endothelial dysfunction caused by COVID-19 and GBM progression.\nRESULTS: Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the brain of COVID-19 patients revealed that endothelial cells had undergone significant transcriptomic changes, with several genes involved in immune responses and inflammation upregulated. Moreover, transcription factors were observed to modulate this inflammation, including interferon-regulated genes.\nCONCLUSIONS: The results indicate a significant overlap between COVID-19 and GBM in the context of endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that there may be an endothelial dysfunction link connecting severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain to GBM progression.", "claims": [{"id": "claim-method", "statement": "The testing method was the Wilcoxon rank sum test.", "kind": "methodological", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:37239234", "locator": "sections[4] \"2.2. Computational Analysis, Statistics, and Schematics\" paragraph 3", "quote": "The testing method was the Wilcoxon rank sum test."}], "state": "complete"}, {"id": "claim-data-access", "statement": "Single-cell RNA sequencing datasets GSE131928 and GSE159812 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), a public database accessible at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/ (accessed on 30 March 2023).", "kind": "methodological", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:37239234", "locator": "sections[17] \"Data Availability Statement\" paragraph 2", "quote": "Single-cell RNA sequencing datasets GSE131928 and GSE159812 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), a public database accessible at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/ (accessed on 30 March 2023)."}], "state": "complete"}, {"id": "claim-target-result", "statement": "The results indicate a significant overlap between COVID-19 and GBM in the context of endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that there may be an endothelial dysfunction link connecting severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain to GBM progression.", "kind": "qualitative", "target": null, "evidence": [{"asset": "source:pmid:37239234", "locator": "sections[0] \"Abstract\" paragraph 1", "quote": "The results indicate a significant overlap between COVID-19 and GBM in the context of endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that there may be an endothelial dysfunction link connecting severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain to GBM progression."}], "state": "complete"}], "gaps": []}, "experiment": {"state": "partial", "objective": "The results indicate a significant overlap between COVID-19 and GBM in the context of endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that there may be an endothelial dysfunction link connecting severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain to GBM progression.", "steps": [{"id": "read_published_estimate", "order": 1, "name": "Read the published estimate from the source", "kind": "other", "state": "complete", "blocked_on": null, "description": "The claim, method and evidence span published with the source article.", "duration_hours": null, "parameters": {}, "inputs": ["source:pmid:37239234"], "outputs": ["the published estimate and its evidence"], "instruments": [], "reagents": []}, {"id": "obtain_source_data", "order": 2, "name": "Obtain the source data from the named repository", "kind": "data-preparation", "state": "complete", "blocked_on": null, "description": "The GEO series accession resolves and its sample accessions are listed. 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This atlas", "n the brain of GBM patients by utilizing the scRNA-seq dataset of COVID-19 patients’ brains [72]. F"], "order_basis": "paper_text_order:0", "id": "assay:1"}, {"role": "data_generation", "definition_id": "animal_model", "definition_version": "99e1195c7d6f", "definition_digest": null, "required_operations": [], "support_state": "partial", "source_hashes": {"assay_lexicon": "99e1195c7d6f"}, "confidence": 0.99, "evidence": ["cells. In a recent study, researchers used a mouse model to examine the role of ACE2 in endothelial d", "cells. 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