UNDINE

Human genetics and immunology of LongCOVID

This work package aims to define and describe the various clinical presentation of mild to severe LongCOVID. Generally, a phenotype is considered as LongCOVID if a SARS-CoV-2 infection is verified and symptoms/signs persists over a prolonged time (>12 weeks), and cannot be readily explained by a severe acute COVID-19. We use Whole Exome and Whole Genome Sequencing analyses (WES & WGS) to search for candidate variants underlying those presentations, for example in patients with objective measures of organ dysfunction following PCR-verified SARS-CoV-2 infection. Immunological and functional analyses are conducted to gain mechanistic insights and to establish a causal relationship between identified variants and immune cell function and regulation. Finally, we assess the specificity and quality of adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with LongCOVID.