Neural-perivascular assembloid reveals astrocyte maturation and SARS-CoV-2 neuropathology
2021
University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA
Clinical evidence suggests the central nervous system is frequently impacted by SARS-CoV-2 infection, either directly or indirectly, although the mechanisms are unclear. Pericytes are perivascular cells within the brain that are proposed as SARS-CoV-2 infection points. Here it is shown, that pericyte-like cells (PLCs), when integrated into a cortical organoid, are capable of infection with SARS-CoV-2. Before infection, PLCs elicited astrocytic maturation and production of basement membrane components, features attributed to pericyte functions in vivo. While traditional cortical organoids showed little evidence of infection, PLCs within cortical organoids served as viral ‘replication hubs’, with viral spreading to astrocytes and mediating inflammatory type I interferon transcriptional responses. Therefore, PLC-containing cortical organoids (PCCOs) represent a new ‘assembloid’ model that supports astrocytic maturation as well as SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication in neural tissue.
A human three-dimensional neural-perivascular ‘assembloid’ promotes astrocytic development and enables modeling of SARS-CoV-2 neuropathology
Joseph G. Gleeson, Aaron F. Carlin
Added on: 10-04-2021
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01443-1[2] https://www.pcrm.org/news/ethical-science/human-based-3d-model-study-sars-cov-2-infection-brain?emci=406df3ba-c401-ec11-b563-501ac57b8fa7&emdi=844c7710-6203-ec11-b563-501ac57b8fa7&ceid=2015591
