SARS-CoV-2 entry factors are highly expressed in nasal epithelial cells together with innate immune genes
- 23 April 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Medicine
- Vol. 26 (5), 681-687
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0868-6
Abstract
We investigated SARS-CoV-2 potential tropism by surveying expression of viral entry-associated genes in single-cell RNA-sequencing data from multiple tissues from healthy human donors. We co-detected these transcripts in specific respiratory, corneal and intestinal epithelial cells, potentially explaining the high efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. These genes are co-expressed in nasal epithelial cells with genes involved in innate immunity, highlighting the cells' potential role in initial viral infection, spread and clearance. The study offers a useful resource for further lines of inquiry with valuable clinical samples from COVID-19 patients and we provide our data in a comprehensive, open and user-friendly fashion at www.covid19cellatlas.org.This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
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