#bronchial

Cracking COVID’s Attack

The infamous virus behind COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, attacks the lungs making it increasingly difficult to breathe. Researchers now investigate how using a reconstructed model of the human bronchial epithelium – the tissue that lines our airways. Infecting this tissue with SARS-CoV-2 and then using scanning electron microscopy (pictured) revealed a rapid loss of hair-like structures called cilia, which help move mucus out of the lungs. Genetic analysis showed that before these cilia were lost, the activity of a gene called FOXJ1dropped. FOXJ1 is the master controller behind ciliogenesis, the process by which cilia are formed. The loss of cilia reduced the ability of the bronchial epithelium to clear mucus. With the cilia out of the picture, the team suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may have a clearer path to spread deeper into lung tissue.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Image from work by Rémy Robinot and Mathieu Hubert, and colleagues

Virus & Immunity Unit, Department of Virology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Nature Communications, July 2021

Background: The innate immune response and cytokine milieu in airway mucosa, mediated by bronchial epithelial cells, are critical in determining susceptibility or protection against cryptococcosis. In experimental models, Th2 and Th1 responses are linked to susceptibility and protection, respectively, while the roles of other cytokines remain less understood. Aims: To evaluate the in vitro…