{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T13:20:04Z","timestamp":1781702404927,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,24]],"date-time":"2023-04-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1682294400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000272","name":"National Institute for Health Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000272","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,21]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Post-acute cardiac sequelae, following SARS-CoV-2 infection, are well recognized as complications of COVID-19. We have previously shown the persistence of autoantibodies against antigens in skin, muscle, and heart in individuals following severe COVID-19; the most common staining on skin tissue displayed an inter-cellular cement pattern consistent with antibodies against desmosomal proteins. Desmosomes play a critical role in maintaining the structural integrity of tissues. For this reason, we analyzed desmosomal protein levels and the presence of anti-desmoglein (DSG) 1, 2, and 3 antibodies in acute and convalescent sera from patients with COVID-19 of differing clinical severity. We find increased levels of DSG2 protein in sera from acute COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, we find that DSG2 autoantibody levels are increased significantly in convalescent sera following severe COVID-19 but not in hospitalized patients recovering from influenza infection or healthy controls. Levels of autoantibody in sera from patients with severe COVID-19 were comparable to levels in patients with non-COVID-19-associated cardiac disease, potentially identifying DSG2 autoantibodies as a novel biomarker for cardiac damage. To determine if there was any association between severe COVID-19 and DSG2, we stained post-mortem cardiac tissue from patients who died from COVID-19 infection. This confirmed DSG2 protein within the intercalated discs and disruption of the intercalated disc between cardiomyocytes in patients who died from COVID-19. Our results reveal the potential for DSG2 protein and autoimmunity to DSG2 to contribute to unexpected pathologies associated with COVID-19 infection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/cei\/uxad046","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,24]],"date-time":"2023-04-24T23:40:55Z","timestamp":1682379655000},"page":"243-251","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with anti-desmoglein 2 autoantibody detection"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"213","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5362-7232","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kerensa E","family":"Ward","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham , Birmingham, West Midlands , UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lora","family":"Steadman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham , Birmingham, 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