Analysis of differential expression of matrix metalloproteinases and defensins in the nasopharyngeal milieu of mild and severe COVID-19 cases

• Khekashan Imtiaz ,

  Contributed equally to this work with: Khekashan Imtiaz, Nida Farooqui

  Roles Methodology, Writing – original draft

  Affiliation Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Nida Farooqui ,

  Contributed equally to this work with: Khekashan Imtiaz, Nida Farooqui

  Roles Methodology, Writing – original draft

  Affiliation Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Khalid Ahmed,

  Roles Methodology, Writing – original draft

  Affiliation Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Alnara Zhamalbekova,

  Roles Writing – original draft

  Affiliation Nazarbayev University School of Medicine, Astana, Kazakhstan

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• Muhammad Faraz Anwar,

  Roles Methodology

  Affiliation Department of Biochemistry, Bahria University Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Asghar Nasir,

  Roles Methodology, Writing – original draft

  Affiliation Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Zeeshan Ansar,

  Roles Methodology, Writing – original draft

  Affiliation Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Khitab Gul,

  Roles Methodology

  Affiliation Department of Biosciences, Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Azhar Hussain,

  Roles Methodology

  Affiliation Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Antonio Sarría-Santamera,

  Roles Methodology

  Affiliation Department of Biomedical Sciences, Nazarbayev University School of Medicine, Astana, Kazakhstan

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• Syed Hani Abidi

  Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

  * E-mail: m.haniabidi@gmail.com

  Affiliations Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Nazarbayev University School of Medicine, Astana, Kazakhstan

  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9497-0902

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