Non-Productive Infection of Glial Cells with SARS-CoV-2 in Hamster Organotypic Cerebellar Slice Cultures

Lise Lamoureux; Babu Sajesh; Jessy A Slota; Sarah J Medina; Matthew Mayor; Kathy L Frost; Bryce Warner; Kathy Manguiat; Heidi Wood; Darwyn Kobasa; Stephanie A Booth

doi:10.3390/v14061218

Non-Productive Infection of Glial Cells with SARS-CoV-2 in Hamster Organotypic Cerebellar Slice Cultures

Viruses. 2022 Jun 3;14(6):1218. doi: 10.3390/v14061218.

Authors

Lise Lamoureux¹, Babu Sajesh¹, Jessy A Slota^{1

2}, Sarah J Medina¹, Matthew Mayor¹, Kathy L Frost¹, Bryce Warner³, Kathy Manguiat¹, Heidi Wood¹, Darwyn Kobasa^{2

3}, Stephanie A Booth^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ One Health Division, Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, 1015 Arlington St., Winnipeg, MB R3E 3R2, Canada.
² Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, 730 William Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3, Canada.
³ Special Pathogens, Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, 1015 Arlington St., Winnipeg, MB R3E 3R2, Canada.

Abstract

The numerous neurological syndromes associated with COVID-19 implicate an effect of viral pathogenesis on neuronal function, yet reports of direct SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain are conflicting. We used a well-established organotypic brain slice culture to determine the permissivity of hamster brain tissues to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We found levels of live virus waned after inoculation and observed no evidence of cell-to-cell spread, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 infection was non-productive. Nonetheless, we identified a small number of infected cells with glial phenotypes; however, no evidence of viral infection or replication was observed in neurons. Our data corroborate several clinical studies that have assessed patients with COVID-19 and their association with neurological involvement.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; astrocytes; brain; microglia; neuroinflammation; organotypic culture.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain
COVID-19*
Cricetinae
Humans
Neuroglia
Neurons
SARS-CoV-2*

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and received no external funding.