The pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 in hACE2 transgenic mice
Top Cited Papers
- 7 May 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature
- Vol. 583 (7818), 830-833
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2312-y
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in China and has become a public health emergency of international concern1. Because angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the cell entry receptor of SARS-CoV5, we used transgenic mice bearing human ACE2 and infected with SARS-CoV-2 to study the pathogenicity of the virus. Weight loss and virus replication in lung were observed in hACE2 mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. The typical histopathology was interstitial pneumonia with infiltration of significant macrophages and lymphocytes into the alveolar interstitium, and accumulation of macrophages in alveolar cavities. Viral antigens were observed in the bronchial epithelial cells, macrophages and alveolar epithelia. The phenomenon was not found in wild-type mice with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Notably, we have confirmed the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 in hACE2 mice. The mouse model with SARS-CoV-2 infection will be valuable for evaluating antiviral therapeutics and vaccines as well as understanding the pathogenesis of COVID-19.This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Identification of a novel coronavirus causing severe pneumonia in human: a descriptive studyChinese Medical Journal, 2020
- A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, ChinaThe Lancet, 2020
- A familial cluster of pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus indicating person-to-person transmission: a study of a family clusterThe Lancet, 2020
- Evolution of the novel coronavirus from the ongoing Wuhan outbreak and modeling of its spike protein for risk of human transmissionScience China Life Sciences, 2020
- SARS and MERS: recent insights into emerging coronavirusesNature Reviews Microbiology, 2016
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection Causes Neuronal Death in the Absence of Encephalitis in Mice Transgenic for Human ACE2Journal of Virology, 2008
- A crucial role of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in SARS coronavirus–induced lung injuryNature Medicine, 2005
- Viruses and Koch's PostulatesJournal of Bacteriology, 1937