AI Article Synopsis
- SARS-CoV-2 infection primarily causes respiratory symptoms but can also harm other organs like the brain, gut, and liver, with nearly half of severe cases showing liver damage.
- Researchers used liver organoids derived from human stem cells to study the liver's response to the virus, revealing significant changes in gene expression in both infected and nearby unaffected liver cells.
- The study highlights inflammatory pathways activated by the virus, particularly IFN-α, INF-γ, and IL-6 signaling, suggesting IL-6 might be a key player in the liver's role in activating immune responses.
Article Abstract
Although respiratory symptoms are the most prevalent disease manifestation of infection by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), infection can also damage other organs, including the brain, gut, and liver. Symptoms of liver damage are observed in nearly half of patients that succumb to severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we use human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived liver organoids (HLOs) to recapitulate and characterize liver pathology following virus exposure. Utilizing single-cell sequencing technology, we identified robust transcriptomic changes that occur in SARS-CoV-2 infected liver cells as well as uninfected bystander cells. Our results show a significant induction of many inflammatory pathways, including IFN-α, INF-γ, and IL-6 signaling. Our results further identify IL-6 signaling as a potential mechanism for liver-mediated activation of circulating macrophages.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9477603 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105146 | DOI Listing |
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