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Gawish R, Starkl P, Pimenov L, Hladik A, Lakovits K, Oberndorfer F, Cronin SJF, Ohradanova-Repic A, Wirnsberger G, Agerer B, Endler L, Capraz T, Perthold JW, Cikes D, Koglgruber R, Hagelkruys A, Montserrat N, Mirazimi A, Boon L, Stockinger H, Bergthaler A, Oostenbrink C, Penninger JM, Knapp S. ACE2 is the critical in vivo receptor for SARS-CoV-2 in a novel COVID-19 mouse model with TNF- and IFNγ-driven immunopathology. eLife 2022; 11:e74623. [PMID: 35023830 PMCID: PMC8776253 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [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: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite tremendous progress in the understanding of COVID-19, mechanistic insight into immunological, disease-driving factors remains limited. We generated maVie16, a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2, by serial passaging of a human isolate. In silico modeling revealed how only three Spike mutations of maVie16 enhanced interaction with murine ACE2. maVie16 induced profound pathology in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, and the resulting mouse COVID-19 (mCOVID-19) replicated critical aspects of human disease, including early lymphopenia, pulmonary immune cell infiltration, pneumonia, and specific adaptive immunity. Inhibition of the proinflammatory cytokines IFNγ and TNF substantially reduced immunopathology. Importantly, genetic ACE2-deficiency completely prevented mCOVID-19 development. Finally, inhalation therapy with recombinant ACE2 fully protected mice from mCOVID-19, revealing a novel and efficient treatment. Thus, we here present maVie16 as a new tool to model COVID-19 for the discovery of new therapies and show that disease severity is determined by cytokine-driven immunopathology and critically dependent on ACE2 in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riem Gawish
- Laboratory of Infection Biology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Philipp Starkl
- Laboratory of Infection Biology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Lisabeth Pimenov
- Laboratory of Infection Biology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Anastasiya Hladik
- Laboratory of Infection Biology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Karin Lakovits
- Laboratory of Infection Biology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | | | - Shane JF Cronin
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Anna Ohradanova-Repic
- Molecular Immunology Unit, Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | | | - Benedikt Agerer
- CeMM, Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Lukas Endler
- CeMM, Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Tümay Capraz
- Institute of Molecular Modeling and Simulation, Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Jan W Perthold
- Institute of Molecular Modeling and Simulation, Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Domagoj Cikes
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Rubina Koglgruber
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Astrid Hagelkruys
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Nuria Montserrat
- Pluripotency for Organ Regeneration, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Technology (BIST), Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA)BarcelonaSpain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y NanomedicinaMadridSpain
| | - Ali Mirazimi
- Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Unit of Clinical MicrobiologyStockholmSweden
- National Veterinary InstituteUppsalaSweden
| | | | - Hannes Stockinger
- Molecular Immunology Unit, Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Andreas Bergthaler
- CeMM, Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Chris Oostenbrink
- Institute of Molecular Modeling and Simulation, Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Josef M Penninger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of SciencesViennaAustria
- Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
| | - Sylvia Knapp
- Laboratory of Infection Biology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
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