Imperial College London
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Dr Laura Martin-Sancho

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease

Lecturer in Molecular Virology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9032 ext 49032laura.martin-sancho Website

 
 
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Location

 

315Medical SchoolSt Mary's Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Mesci:2022:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001845,
author = {Mesci, P and de, Souza JS and Martin-Sancho, L and Macia, A and Saleh, A and Yin, X and Snethlage, C and Adams, JW and Avansini, SH and Herai, RH and Almenar-Queralt, A and Pu, Y and Szeto, RA and Goldberg, G and Bruck, PT and Papes, F and Chanda, SK and Muotri, AR},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pbio.3001845},
journal = {PLOS Biology},
pages = {e3001845--e3001845},
title = {SARS-CoV-2 infects human brain organoids causing cell death and loss of synapses that can be rescued by treatment with Sofosbuvir},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001845},
volume = {20},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - <jats:p>The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was rapidly declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Early clinical symptomatology focused mainly on respiratory illnesses. However, a variety of neurological manifestations in both adults and newborns are now well-documented. To experimentally determine whether SARS-CoV-2 could replicate in and affect human brain cells, we infected iPSC-derived human brain organoids. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 can productively replicate and promote death of neural cells, including cortical neurons. This phenotype was accompanied by loss of excitatory synapses in neurons. Notably, we found that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antiviral Sofosbuvir was able to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication and rescued these neuronal alterations in infected brain organoids. Given the urgent need for readily available antivirals, these results provide a cellular basis supporting repurposed antivirals as a strategic treatment to alleviate neurocytological defects that may underlie COVID-19- related neurological symptoms.</jats:p>
AU  - Mesci,P
AU  - de,Souza JS
AU  - Martin-Sancho,L
AU  - Macia,A
AU  - Saleh,A
AU  - Yin,X
AU  - Snethlage,C
AU  - Adams,JW
AU  - Avansini,SH
AU  - Herai,RH
AU  - Almenar-Queralt,A
AU  - Pu,Y
AU  - Szeto,RA
AU  - Goldberg,G
AU  - Bruck,PT
AU  - Papes,F
AU  - Chanda,SK
AU  - Muotri,AR
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001845
EP  - 3001845
PY  - 2022///
SP  - 3001845
TI  - SARS-CoV-2 infects human brain organoids causing cell death and loss of synapses that can be rescued by treatment with Sofosbuvir
T2  - PLOS Biology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001845
VL  - 20
ER  -
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