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Khan M, Clijsters M, Choi S, Backaert W, Claerhout M, Couvreur F, Van Breda L, Bourgeois F, Speleman K, Klein S, Van Laethem J, Verstappen G, Dereli AS, Yoo SJ, Zhou H, Dan Do TN, Jochmans D, Laenen L, Debaveye Y, De Munter P, Gunst J, Jorissen M, Lagrou K, Meersseman P, Neyts J, Thal DR, Topsakal V, Vandenbriele C, Wauters J, Mombaerts P, Van Gerven L. Anatomical barriers against SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasion at vulnerable interfaces visualized in deceased COVID-19 patients. Neuron 2022; 110:3919-3935.e6. [PMID: 36446381 PMCID: PMC9647025 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Can SARS-CoV-2 hitchhike on the olfactory projection and take a direct and short route from the nose into the brain? We reasoned that the neurotropic or neuroinvasive capacity of the virus, if it exists, should be most easily detectable in individuals who died in an acute phase of the infection. Here, we applied a postmortem bedside surgical procedure for the rapid procurement of tissue, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid samples from deceased COVID-19 patients infected with the Delta, Omicron BA.1, or Omicron BA.2 variants. Confocal imaging of sections stained with fluorescence RNAscope and immunohistochemistry afforded the light-microscopic visualization of extracellular SARS-CoV-2 virions in tissues. We failed to find evidence for viral invasion of the parenchyma of the olfactory bulb and the frontal lobe of the brain. Instead, we identified anatomical barriers at vulnerable interfaces, exemplified by perineurial olfactory nerve fibroblasts enwrapping olfactory axon fascicles in the lamina propria of the olfactory mucosa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mona Khan
- Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Marnick Clijsters
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Otorhinolaryngology, Rhinology Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sumin Choi
- Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Wout Backaert
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michiel Claerhout
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Floor Couvreur
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Laure Van Breda
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Florence Bourgeois
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, AZ Sint-Jan Brugge-Oostende AV, Bruges, Belgium
| | - Kato Speleman
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, AZ Sint-Jan Brugge-Oostende AV, Bruges, Belgium
| | - Sam Klein
- Department of Neurosurgery, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Johan Van Laethem
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Gill Verstappen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | | | - Seung-Jun Yoo
- Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hai Zhou
- Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Thuc Nguyen Dan Do
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dirk Jochmans
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lies Laenen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine & National Reference Center for Respiratory Pathogens, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Yves Debaveye
- Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Intensive Care Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Paul De Munter
- Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Laboratory for Clinical Infectious and Inflammatory Disorders, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Gunst
- Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Intensive Care Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mark Jorissen
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Otorhinolaryngology, Rhinology Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Katrien Lagrou
- Department of Laboratory Medicine & National Reference Center for Respiratory Pathogens, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Laboratory of Clinical Bacteriology and Mycology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Philippe Meersseman
- Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Laboratory for Clinical Infectious and Inflammatory Disorders, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Johan Neyts
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dietmar Rudolf Thal
- Department of Pathology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Laboratory of Neuropathology, Department of Imaging & Pathology and Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Vedat Topsakal
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Christophe Vandenbriele
- Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Joost Wauters
- Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Laboratory for Clinical Infectious and Inflammatory Disorders, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Peter Mombaerts
- Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Laura Van Gerven
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Otorhinolaryngology, Rhinology Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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