Abstract
Infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the new viral infectious disease (coronavirus disease 2019; COVID-19). Emerging evidence indicates that COVID-19 may be associated with a wide spectrum of neurological symptoms and complications with central nervous system (CNS) involvement. It is now well-established that entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells is facilitated by its spike proteins mainly through binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2). Preclinical studies have suggested that neuropilin-1 (NRP1), which is a transmembrane receptor that lacks a cytosolic protein kinase domain and exhibits high expression in the respiratory and olfactory epithelium, may also be implicated in COVID-19 by enhancing the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the brain through the olfactory epithelium. In the present study, we expand on these findings and demonstrate that the NRP1 is also expressed in the CNS, including olfactory-related regions such as the olfactory tubercles and paraolfactory gyri. This furthers supports the potential role of NRP1 as an additional SARS-CoV-2 infection mediator implicated in the neurologic manifestations of COVID-19. Accordingly, the neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2 via NRP1-expressing cells in the CNS merits further investigation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4221-4226 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Molecular Medicine Reports |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 15 Sept 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2020 |
Bibliographical note
© Davies et al. This work is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License
Keywords
- Brain
- Central nervous system
- COVID-19
- Neurologic symptoms
- Neuropilin-1
- Neurotropism
- SARS-CoV-2