SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine storm drives prolonged testicular injury and functional impairment in mice that are mitigated by dexamethasone
Fig 2
RNA-seq analysis of the testis identifies dysregulation of distinct transcriptional pathways at different stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
(A) Volcano plots of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (n, 3 mice per time point) at indicated time points, dotted lines represent cutoff: p< 0.05 and log2fc > |1|, genes increased after infection, red; and genes decreased after infection, blue. (B) Venn diagram of total DEGs at D3 (red), D5 (yellow), D8 (light green), D14 (dark green), and D30 (blue). (C) Principal component analysis (PCA) performed using DEGs (p <0.05 and log2fc > |1|) and normalized transcripts per million (controls, black circle; infected, red circle) (D) Heatmap of top pathways and select diseases and functions revealed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA), filtered to remove erroneous results (upregulated, red; downregulated, blue). (E) The expression log2 ratio of upregulated (red) and downregulated (blue) genes associated with ILK, FAK, and activin/inhibin signaling pathways and pathogen-induced cytokine storm, fibrosis, and apoptosis signaling pathways as determined by IPA in each dataset (p< 0.05; log2fc > |1|) at indicated time points.