TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 - Prime Time for Microphysiological Systems, as Illustrated for the Brain
AU - Kang, Ian
AU - Smirnova, Lena
AU - Kuhn, Jens H.
AU - Hogberg, Helena
AU - Kleinstreuer, Nicole C.
AU - Hartung, Thomas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors, 2021.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The development of therapies for and preventions against infectious diseases depends on the availability of disease models. Bioengineering of human organoids and organs-on-chips is one extremely promising avenue of research. These miniature, laboratory-grown organ systems have been broadly used during the ongoing, unprecedented coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to show the many effects of the etiologic agent, severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on human organs. In contrast, exposure of most animals either did not result in infection or caused mild clinical signs - not the severe course of the infection suffered by many humans. This article illuminates the opportunities of microphysiological systems (MPS) to study COVID-19 in vitro, with a focus on brain cell infection and its translational relevance to COVID-19 effects on the human brain. Neurovirulence of SARS-CoV-2 has been reproduced in different types of human brain organoids by 10 groups, consistently showing infection of a small portion of brain cells accompanied by limited viral replication. This mirrors increasingly recognized neurological manifestations in COVID-19 patients (evidence of virus infection and brain-specific antibody formation in brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid). The pathogenesis of neurological signs, their long-term consequences, and possible interventions remain unclear, but future MPS technologies offer prospects to address these open questions.
AB - The development of therapies for and preventions against infectious diseases depends on the availability of disease models. Bioengineering of human organoids and organs-on-chips is one extremely promising avenue of research. These miniature, laboratory-grown organ systems have been broadly used during the ongoing, unprecedented coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to show the many effects of the etiologic agent, severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on human organs. In contrast, exposure of most animals either did not result in infection or caused mild clinical signs - not the severe course of the infection suffered by many humans. This article illuminates the opportunities of microphysiological systems (MPS) to study COVID-19 in vitro, with a focus on brain cell infection and its translational relevance to COVID-19 effects on the human brain. Neurovirulence of SARS-CoV-2 has been reproduced in different types of human brain organoids by 10 groups, consistently showing infection of a small portion of brain cells accompanied by limited viral replication. This mirrors increasingly recognized neurological manifestations in COVID-19 patients (evidence of virus infection and brain-specific antibody formation in brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid). The pathogenesis of neurological signs, their long-term consequences, and possible interventions remain unclear, but future MPS technologies offer prospects to address these open questions.
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U2 - 10.14573/altex.2110131
DO - 10.14573/altex.2110131
M3 - Article
C2 - 34698363
AN - SCOPUS:85120835400
SN - 1868-596X
VL - 38
SP - 535
EP - 549
JO - ALTEX
JF - ALTEX
IS - 4
ER -