MMP8 and COVID-19: Further reconstruction of the gene association network of the COVID-19-associated regulome and its analysis demonstrated that a range of revealed genes were characterised by a high degree centrality within the network, such as SAA1, RSAD2, IFI44, RTP4, MMP8, and CCL2 (21–44 interconnections) that show their probable key regulatory roles in lung injury induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection (Fig 3B).