IMC mapping of COVID-MDR, MDR and DRESS
To explore the phenotype and topographical distribution of the T cell-
and pan-leukocyte-infiltrates in COVID MDR, we designed and applied a 36
antibody-IMC panel to COVID MDR, MDR, DRESS and HC skin sections (Table
2). After single-cell segmentation, we used a manual gating strategy to
label cell-types of interest followed by classification of the
remaining, unlabeled cells in the dataset (Methods). The analysis of
these cell types (Figure 2A-D) showed many overlaps between the
indications, but also some differences. In a quantitative comparison
(Figure 2B), monocyte/macrophages (Mo/Mac) were increased in number in
all three conditions (COVID-MDR, DRESS, MDR) compared to HC.
CD8+ but not CD4+ T cells were more
prominent in COVID-MDR than in DRESS, MDR, and HC. B cells and pDCs were
generally rare in all samples (Figure 2C-D). Of note, we found that
CD8+ T cells were often also positive for myeloid
markers indicating that we do observe an overlap in markers due to low
resolution and imperfect cell segmentation. Markers of T cell
activation, such as GrzB also seemed elevated from some the images
(Figure 2E). These results indicated a role of T cells, particularly
CD8+ T cells and Mo/Mac in COVID-MDR.