GSE174843
SARS-CoV-2 infects and replicates in photoreceptor and retinal ganglion cells of human retinal organoids
Recent data suggests that COVID-19 is a systemic disease affecting multiple organs including the central nervous system. Retinal involvement in COVID-19 has been indicated by several studies, yet many questions remain regarding the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to infect and replicate retinal cells and its effect on the retina. Here we have used human stem cell derived retinal organoids to study retinal infection by SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, SARS-CoV-2 can infect and replicate in retinal organoids, as it is shown to be able to infect different retinal lineages, including retinal ganglion cells and photoreceptors which are the targets of many retinal diseases leading to blindness. SARS-CoV-2 infection of retinal organoids also induces the expression of several inflammatory genes, including Interleukin 33, which is known to be associated with acute COVID-19 disease and with retinal degeneration. Finally, we show that blocking the ACE2 receptor using antibody treatment significantly reduces retinal organoid infection, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 infects retinal cells in an ACE2 dependent manner. These results suggest a direct retinal involvement in COVID-19, and emphasize the need to monitor retinal pathologies as a possible element of “long COVID”. Overall design: Retinal organoids were infected with SARS-CoV-2 or mock infected as control. Sampling was done at 24 and 96 hours post infection, every condition in triplicate.