SARS-CoV-2 infection induces the dedifferentiation of multiciliated cells and impairs mucociliary clearance.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how SARS-CoV-2 spreads within the respiratory tract is important to define the parameters controlling the severity of COVID-19. Here we examine the functional and structural consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a reconstructed human bronchial epithelium model. SARS-CoV-2 replication causes a transient decrease in epithelial barrier function and disruption of tight junctions, though viral particle crossing remains limited. Rather, SARS-CoV-2 replication leads to a rapid loss of the ciliary layer, characterized at the ultrastructural level by axoneme loss and misorientation of remaining basal bodies. Downregulation of the master regulator of ciliogenesis Foxj1 occurs prior to extensive cilia loss, implicating this transcription factor in the dedifferentiation of ciliated cel

SUBMITTER: Robinot R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8285531 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature