SARS-CoV-2 Rapidly Infects Peripheral Sensory and Autonomic Neurons, Contributing to Central Nervous System Neuroinvasion before Viremia.

ABSTRACT: Neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19, acute and long term, suggest SARS-CoV-2 affects both the peripheral and central nervous systems (PNS/CNS). Although studies have shown olfactory and hematogenous invasion into the CNS, coinciding with neuroinflammation, little attention has been paid to susceptibility of the PNS to infection or to its contribution to CNS invasion. Here we show that sensory and autonomic neurons in the PNS are susceptible to productive infection with SARS-CoV-2 and outline physiological and molecular mechanisms mediating neuroinvasion. Our infection of K18-hACE2 mice, wild-type mice, and golden Syrian hamsters, as well as primary peripheral sensory and autonomic neuronal cultures, show viral RNA, proteins, and infectious virus in PNS neurons, satellite glial c

SUBMITTER: Joyce JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11311394 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature