STAT2 signaling restricts viral dissemination but drives severe pneumonia in SARS-CoV-2 infected hamsters.

ABSTRACT: Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. In search for key targets of effective therapeutics, robust animal models mimicking COVID-19 in humans are urgently needed. Here, we show that Syrian hamsters, in contrast to mice, are highly permissive to SARS-CoV-2 and develop bronchopneumonia and strong inflammatory responses in the lungs with neutrophil infiltration and edema, further confirmed as consolidations visualized by micro-CT alike in clinical practice. Moreover, we identify an exuberant innate immune response as key player in pathogenesis, in which STAT2 signaling plays a dual role, driving severe lung injury on the one hand, yet restricting systemic virus dissemination on the other. Our results reveal the importance of STAT2-dependent i

SUBMITTER: Boudewijns R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7672082 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature