tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Stem Cell Reports
. 2021 May 11;16(5):1156-1164.
doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.01.016.
SARS-CoV-2 targets glial cells in human cortical organoids
Courtney L McMahon[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hilary Staples[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Michal Gazi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ricardo Carrion[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jenny Hsieh[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have manifested a variety of neurological complications, and there is still much to reveal regarding the neurotropism of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Human stem cell-derived brain organoids offer a valuable in vitro approach to study the cellular effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain. Here we used human embryonic stem cell-derived cortical organoids to investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 could infect brain tissue in vitro and found that cortical organoids could be infected at low viral titers and within 6 h. Importantly, we show that glial cells and cells of the choroid plexus were preferentially targeted in our model, but not neurons. Interestingly, we also found expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells; however, viral replication and cell death involving DNA fragmentation does not occur. We believe that our model is a tractable platform to study the cellular effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in brain tissue.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cortical organoid; glial cells; human embryonic stem cells; neurological symptoms; neurotropism.
. 2021 May 11;16(5):1156-1164.
doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.01.016.
SARS-CoV-2 targets glial cells in human cortical organoids
Courtney L McMahon[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hilary Staples[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Michal Gazi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ricardo Carrion[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jenny Hsieh[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33979600
- PMCID: PMC8111796
- DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.01.016
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have manifested a variety of neurological complications, and there is still much to reveal regarding the neurotropism of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Human stem cell-derived brain organoids offer a valuable in vitro approach to study the cellular effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain. Here we used human embryonic stem cell-derived cortical organoids to investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 could infect brain tissue in vitro and found that cortical organoids could be infected at low viral titers and within 6 h. Importantly, we show that glial cells and cells of the choroid plexus were preferentially targeted in our model, but not neurons. Interestingly, we also found expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells; however, viral replication and cell death involving DNA fragmentation does not occur. We believe that our model is a tractable platform to study the cellular effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in brain tissue.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cortical organoid; glial cells; human embryonic stem cells; neurological symptoms; neurotropism.