[Folding@home] SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:00 am
Cell Stem Cell. 2021 Dec 25:S1934-5909(21)00520-8. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2021.12.010. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Kidney failure is frequently observed during and after COVID-19, but it remains elusive whether this is a direct effect of the virus. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 directly infects kidney cells and is associated with increased tubule-interstitial kidney fibrosis in patient autopsy samples. To study direct effects of the virus on the kidney independent of systemic effects of COVID-19, we infected human-induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived kidney organoids with SARS-CoV-2. Single-cell RNA sequencing indicated injury and dedifferentiation of infected cells with activation of profibrotic signaling pathways. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 infection also led to increased collagen 1 protein expression in organoids. A SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor was able to ameliorate the infection of kidney cells by SARS-CoV-2. Our results...
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