Single-cell RNA Expression of SARS-CoV-2 Cell Entry Factors in Human Endometrium during Preconception

  1. Felipe Vilella
  2. Wanxin Wang
  3. Inmaculada Moreno
  4. Stephen R. Quake
  5. Carlos Simon

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Abstract

We investigated potential SARS-CoV-2 tropism in human endometrium by single-cell RNA-sequencing of viral entry-associated genes in healthy women. Percentages of endometrial cells expressing ACE2, TMPRSS2, CTSB , or CTSL were <2%, 12%, 80%, and 80%, respectively, with 0.7% of cells expressing all four genes. Our findings imply low efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the endometrium before embryo implantation, providing information to assess preconception risk in asymptomatic carriers.

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    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.09.14.296806: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: Subject details: All procedures involving human endometrium were conducted in accordance with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines for Stanford University under the IRB code IRB-35448 and IVI Valencia, Spain under the IRB code 1603-IGX-016-CS.
    Consent: Informed written consent was obtained from each donor in her natural menstrual cycle (no hormone stimulation) before an endometrial biopsy was performed.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableDe-identified human endometrium was obtained from women aged 18-34, with regular menstrual cycle (3-4 days every 28-30 days), BMI ranging 19-29 kg/m2 (inclusive), negative serological tests for HIV, HBV, HCV, RPR and normal karyotype.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Endometrium tissue dissociation and population enrichment: Endometrial tissue digestion and scRNAseq library generation were previously described in 13.
    scRNAseq
    suggested: None
    bcl2fastq v2.17.1.14 was used to separate out the data for each single cell by using unique barcode combinations from the Nextera XT preparation and to generate *.fastq files.
    bcl2fastq
    suggested: (bcl2fastq , RRID:SCR_015058)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  4. Version published to 10.1101/2020.09.14.296806v1 on bioRxiv