The cellular immune response to B.1.1.7 variant COVID-19 deciphered by single cell multi-omics

During wave 1 of COVID-19, we performed the largest single cell multi-omic analysis of peripheral blood cells from 130 COVID-19 patients and controls, measuring full transcriptomes, 192 proteins and B-cell/T-cell receptor rearrangement status in over 800,000 single cells (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.13.21249725v1; currently in Minor Revision at Nature Medicine). With over 1,500 individual datapoints for each single cell, our dataset contains in excess of 1 billion total datapoints, and therefore provides the perfect reference to ask whether COVID-19 caused by the B.1.1.7 variant differs in the way it affects all our blood and immune cells. We have already collected samples from over 30 patients with the new variant, but do not have the funds to carry out the single cell profiling (£30,000 required in total). Experimental and bioinformatics staff will donate their time. All we need is funding to pay for the reagents for single cell genomics (~£1,000 per patient). Given the recent announcements, that the new B.1.1.7 variant strain is likely to cause higher rates of mortality, there is a pressing need to perform the most detailed molecular comparisons possible between patients infected with the old and new strains. The main urgent outcome may be to reassure the medical community and wider public that the molecular profiles of patients are broadly similar, thus confirming that the current treatments are still appropriate for variant B.1.1.7. It is of course also possible, that distinct immune pathways are activated, which will inform the development of new treatment strategies, and would require follow-on funding.