Consistent with decreased levels of transcripts, a significant reduction in expression of NEIL2 protein was also observed in the SARS-CoV-2-infected lungs, particularly in alveolar epithelial cells, compared to healthy controls (Fig. 1i, j) as analyzed by immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of paraffin-embedded lung specimens of COVID-19 patients. This evidence concerns the gene NEIL2 and COVID-19.