Specificity of morpho-molecular findings in COVID-19 lungs

In this project, a comprehensive examination of a well selected and large collection tissue samples from autopsies of COVID-19 patients will be performed in order to identify morphological and molecular features that are specific for SARS-COV2 infection. The results of the analysis, that comprise a comprehensive characterization of inflammatory cells and their interaction, gene expression profiles and metabolomics studies, will be compared to data obtained from archival autopsy material from patients who died before 2019 and showed similar changes in the lungs, as determined by histology. With this approach it will be possible to clarify whether tissue changes observed in patients are specific for COVID-19, as targeted treatment should be primarily directed at the disease. If not, lung damage seen in the context of COVID-19 could be viewed as a general pathophysiological response on a particular agent and treatment strategies should focus on this evidence. The results will also be correlated with clinical, laboratory and radiologic findings. For validation of selected findings, independent case collections will be used. The study will allow to either identify molecular alterations, metabolic changes or cellular reactions specific for COVID-19 as potential novel targets of treatments or prove that the observed affection of the lungs is a non-specific reaction to a viral infection. This, in terms may also lead to improvements in the therapeutic approach.