1. Detection of viral RNA fragments in human iPSC cardiomyocytes following treatment with extracellular vesicles from SARS-CoV-2 coding sequence overexpressing lung epithelial cells.
- Author
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Kwon Y, Nukala SB, Srivastava S, Miyamoto H, Ismail NI, Jousma J, Rehman J, Ong SB, Lee WH, and Ong SG
- Subjects
- A549 Cells, Humans, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, RNA, Viral, COVID-19 virology, Extracellular Vesicles virology, Myocytes, Cardiac virology, SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity, Virus Internalization
- Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global pandemic. The prevalence/severity of COVID-19 is higher among patients with cardiovascular risk factors. Despite the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, in cardiomyocytes, there has been no conclusive evidence of direct viral infection although the presence of viral genome within COVID-19 patients' hearts has been reported. Here, we overexpressed SARS-CoV-2 genes in A549 lung epithelial cells. We then isolated extracellular vesicles (EVs) and detected the presence of viral RNA within these EVs. We observed that human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) are receptive to these EVs, and viral genes were detectable in the cardiomyocytes. Accordingly, the uptake of viral RNA-harboring EVs led to an upregulation of inflammation-related genes in hiPSC-CMs. Thus, our findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 RNA containing EVs represents an indirect route of viral RNA entry into cardiomyocytes.
- Published
- 2020
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