Our ‘Dataset of the Week’ series features publicly available omics datasets of scientific value, intending to promote data sharing and reuse.

This week’s dataset is from the publication titled ‘Human iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes Are Susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 Infection’.

SARS-CoV-2 is known to induce cardiac complications in some patients, in addition to its well-established respiratory symptoms. The aim of this paper was to examine the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on cardiomyocytes and cardiac function.

Key Findings of the Publication:

• SARS-CoV-2 was found to infect human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) by utilizing the ACE2 receptor to gain entry into the cells.
• Virus-infected hiPSC-CMs exhibited a loss of contractile function (beating) and underwent apoptosis 72 hours post-infection.
• Transcriptomics analysis of hiPSC-CMs infected with SARS-CoV-2 showed significant upregulation in the expression levels of immunomodulatory molecules such as cytokines and interleukins.
• Gene pathway analysis revealed the upregulation of pathways related to immune response and apoptosis and downregulation of those linked to mitochondrial activity and cardiac functions.
• This paper provides evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can directly enter hiPSC-CMs and affect cardiac function by inducing apoptosis and loss of beating activity in a significant proportion of the cells.

Significance of the Dataset:

This dataset contains bulk RNA-seq data derived from hiPSC-CMs infected with SARS-CoV-2 and corresponding controls. It could serve as a useful resource to study cardiomyocyte-specific effects of SARS-CoV-2 and elucidate the molecular mechanisms that lead to cardiac complications such as arrhythmias and cardiac failure.

Experimental Design:

hiPSC-CMs were infected with 0.1 MOI SARS-CoV-2 or serum-free media (control) for 72 hours and harvested for bulk RNA-seq (3 biological replicates per group).

Useful Links:

• The dataset (GSE 150392): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE150392
• The publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32835305/
• The curated and analyzed report from the dataset: https://omixwiki.elucidata.io/485/gse150392/human-ipsc-derived-cardiomyocyte