Fig. 4: LC-Mo-specific proteins show elevated expression in LC CD14⁺ monocytes.

a, UMAP of CD14⁺ monocytes from individuals with LC^AM (n = 8) from cohort 3 showing S100A8⁺S100A9⁺ CD14⁺ monocyte (Clust0), CTNNB1⁺EMP1⁺ CD14⁺ monocyte (Clust1) and FCN1⁺CCL3⁺ CD14⁺ monocyte (Clust2) subclusters. b, LC-Mo signature AUC scores within S100A8⁺S100A9⁺ CD14⁺ monocytes (Clust0), CTNNB1⁺EMP1⁺ CD14⁺ monocytes (Clust1) and FCN1⁺CCL3⁺ CD14⁺ monocytes (Clust2) as in a. Data were analyzed by two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test; ****P < 0.00001. c, LC-Mo AUC scores in Clust1 CD14⁺ monocytes from individuals with LC^AM in cohort 3 with Resp-PASC (n = 5) or Resp-PASC-BHR (n = 3). Data were analyzed by two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test; ****P < 0.00001. Horizontal dashed lines in b and c serve as visual reference for comparison of relative shifts in pathway AUC scores across clusters. d, Percentage of CD14⁺ monocytes among PBMCs in donors recovered from acute COVID-19 (R^A) combined with NI (R^A + NI, n = 10), donors with LC^AM (n = 29) and donors with LC^AS (n = 11) in cohort 4. e, MFI of HLA-DQ, CD120b, CALR, CD99 and TGFβ in samples from individuals with LC^AS, LC^AM and R^A + NI as in d. f,g, MFI of HLA-DQ, CD120b, CALR and TGFβ in R^A + NI (n = 10) and LC donors in cohort 4 categorized based on mMRC dyspnea score (DS) as DS1 (n = 14), DS2 (n = 11) and DS3 (n = 4) (f) or in R^A + NI (n = 10) and LC donors in cohort 4 with fatigue (n = 14, FAS score 22–34) and extreme fatigue (n = 14, FAS score 35–47) based on FAS category (g). P values in d–g were calculated using a two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test; ****P < 0.00001, ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01 and *P < 0.05. Box plots show the median (center), first and third quartiles (bounds) and 1.5 times the interquartile range (whiskers).