Stephen A. Whelan: How SARS-CoV-2 Infection Reprograms Tryptophan Metabolism
Stephen A. Whelan, Founder at Tamino Bio, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article he and his colleagues co-authored, published in Blood Vessels, Thrombosis and Hemostasis, adding:
“Congratulations to Vipul Chitalia, Saravanan Subramaniam, Marc Napoleon, and the entire team on this publication.
In this collaborative study, the authors investigated how SARS-CoV-2 infection reprograms tryptophan metabolism and contributes to a prothrombotic state through activation of the kynurenine–AHR–tissue factor signaling axis.
Key findings included:
- SARS-CoV-2 infection increased kynurenine pathway metabolites in both mouse models and human patients.
- Elevated kynurenine signaling was associated with activation of procoagulant pathways in endothelial cells.
- Pharmacologic inhibition of IDO-1 or AHR reduced tissue factor induction, highlighting a potentially targetable pathway linking metabolism, inflammation, and thrombosis.
- The study identified the kynurenine–AHR–TF axis as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for COVID-19-associated thrombosis.
I was pleased to contribute metabolomics analyses to this work using the metabolomics platform I built and operated at Boston University’s Chemical Instrumentation Center (CIC) between 2018–2021.
Studies like this demonstrate the value of integrating metabolomics, proteomics, and systems biology approaches to better understand disease mechanisms and identify new diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities.”
Title: Tryptophan metabolism reprogramming potentially contributes to the prothrombotic milieu in mice and humans with SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Saravanan Subramaniam, Marc Arthur Napoleon, Saran Lotfollahzadeh, Mohamed Hassan Kamal, Helena Kurniawan, Christina Francis, Murad Elsadawi, David Jasen Wu Wong, Devin Kenney, Florian Douam, Markus Bosmann, Stephen A. Whelan, Howard Cabral, Eric J. Burks, Grace Zhao, Vijaya B. Kolachalama, Katya Ravid, Vipul C. Chitalia
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