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Grootemaat AE, van der Niet S, Scholl ER, Roos E, Schurink B, Bugiani M, Miller SE, Larsen P, Pankras J, Reits EA, van der Wel NN. Lipid and Nucleocapsid N-Protein Accumulation in COVID-19 Patient Lung and Infected Cells. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0127121. [PMID: 35171025 PMCID: PMC8849100 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01271-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global outbreak and prompted an enormous research effort. Still, the subcellular localization of the coronavirus in lungs of COVID-19 patients is not well understood. Here, the localization of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins is studied in postmortem lung material of COVID-19 patients and in SARS-CoV-2-infected Vero cells, processed identically. Correlative light and electron microscopy on semithick cryo-sections demonstrated induction of electron-lucent, lipid-filled compartments after SARS-CoV-2 infection in both lung and cell cultures. In lung tissue, the nonstructural protein 4 and the stable nucleocapsid N-protein were detected on these novel lipid-filled compartments. The induction of such lipid-filled compartments and the localization of the viral proteins in lung of patients with fatal COVID-19 may explain the extensive inflammatory response and provide a new hallmark for SARS-CoV-2 infection at the final, fatal stage of infection. IMPORTANCE Visualization of the subcellular localization of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in lung patient material of COVID-19 patients is important for the understanding of this new virus. We detected viral proteins in the context of the ultrastructure of infected cells and tissues and discovered that some viral proteins accumulate in novel, lipid-filled compartments. These structures are induced in Vero cells but, more importantly, also in lung of patients with COVID-19. We have characterized these lipid-filled compartments and determined that this is a novel, virus-induced structure. Immunogold labeling demonstrated that cellular markers, such as CD63 and lipid droplet marker PLIN-2, are absent. Colocalization of lipid-filled compartments with the stable N-protein and nonstructural protein 4 in lung of the last stages of COVID-19 indicates that these compartments play a key role in the devastating immune response that SARS-CoV-2 infections provoke.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita E. Grootemaat
- Electron Microscopy Centre Amsterdam, Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Sanne van der Niet
- Electron Microscopy Centre Amsterdam, Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Edwin R. Scholl
- Electron Microscopy Centre Amsterdam, Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Eva Roos
- Department of Pathology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Bernadette Schurink
- Department of Pathology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Marianna Bugiani
- Department of Pathology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Sara E. Miller
- Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Per Larsen
- Electron Microscopy Centre Amsterdam, Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Pathology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jeannette Pankras
- Electron Microscopy Centre Amsterdam, Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Pathology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Eric A. Reits
- Electron Microscopy Centre Amsterdam, Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Nicole N. van der Wel
- Electron Microscopy Centre Amsterdam, Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Dekker N, Van Leeuwen A, Van Meurs M, Moser J, Pankras J, Van Der Wel N, Niessen H, Vervloet M, Vonk A, Hordijk P, Boer C, Brom CVD. PRESERVATION OF RENAL ENDOTHELIAL INTEGRITY AND REDUCITON OF RENAL EDEMA BY APROTININ DOES NOT PRESERVE RENAL PERFUSION AND FUNCTION FOLLOWING EXPERIMENTAL CARDIOPULMONARY BYPASS. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 2021. [DOI: 10.1053/j.jvca.2021.08.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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