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SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infections result in the temporary loss of smell and taste (anosmia and dysgeusia) in about one third of confirmed cases. Several investigators have reported that the viral spike protein receptor is present in olfactory neurons. However, no...

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Autores principales: Vitale-Cross, L., Szalayova, I, Scoggins, A, Palkovits, M., Mezey, E
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8750701/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35018378
http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.30.474580
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author Vitale-Cross, L.
Szalayova, I
Scoggins, A
Palkovits, M.
Mezey, E
author_facet Vitale-Cross, L.
Szalayova, I
Scoggins, A
Palkovits, M.
Mezey, E
author_sort Vitale-Cross, L.
collection PubMed
description Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infections result in the temporary loss of smell and taste (anosmia and dysgeusia) in about one third of confirmed cases. Several investigators have reported that the viral spike protein receptor is present in olfactory neurons. However, no study has been published to date showing the presence of viral entry sites angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), neuropilin1 (NRP1), and TMPRSS2, the serine protease necessary for priming the viral proteins, in human nerves that are responsible for taste sensation (cranial nerves: VII, IX and X). We used immunocytochemistry to examine three postmortem donor samples of the IXth (glossopharyngeal) and Xth (vagal) cranial nerves where they leave/join the medulla from three donors to confirm the presence of ACE2, NRP1 and TMPRSS2. Two samples were paraffin embedded; one was a frozen sample. In addition to staining sections from the latter, we isolated RNA from it, made cDNA, and performed PCR to confirm the presence of the mRNAs that encode the proteins visualized. All three of the proteins required for SARS-CoV-2 infections appear to be present in the human IXth and Xth nerves near the medulla. Direct infection of these nerves by the COVID-19 virus is likely to cause the loss of taste experienced by many patients. In addition, potential viral spread through these nerves into the adjacent brainstem respiratory centers might also aggravate the respiratory problems patients are experiencing.
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spelling pubmed-87507012022-01-12 SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications Vitale-Cross, L. Szalayova, I Scoggins, A Palkovits, M. Mezey, E bioRxiv Article Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infections result in the temporary loss of smell and taste (anosmia and dysgeusia) in about one third of confirmed cases. Several investigators have reported that the viral spike protein receptor is present in olfactory neurons. However, no study has been published to date showing the presence of viral entry sites angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), neuropilin1 (NRP1), and TMPRSS2, the serine protease necessary for priming the viral proteins, in human nerves that are responsible for taste sensation (cranial nerves: VII, IX and X). We used immunocytochemistry to examine three postmortem donor samples of the IXth (glossopharyngeal) and Xth (vagal) cranial nerves where they leave/join the medulla from three donors to confirm the presence of ACE2, NRP1 and TMPRSS2. Two samples were paraffin embedded; one was a frozen sample. In addition to staining sections from the latter, we isolated RNA from it, made cDNA, and performed PCR to confirm the presence of the mRNAs that encode the proteins visualized. All three of the proteins required for SARS-CoV-2 infections appear to be present in the human IXth and Xth nerves near the medulla. Direct infection of these nerves by the COVID-19 virus is likely to cause the loss of taste experienced by many patients. In addition, potential viral spread through these nerves into the adjacent brainstem respiratory centers might also aggravate the respiratory problems patients are experiencing. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2022-01-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8750701/ /pubmed/35018378 http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.30.474580 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/This article is a US Government work. It is not subject to copyright under 17 USC 105 and is also made available for use under a CC0 license (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Vitale-Cross, L.
Szalayova, I
Scoggins, A
Palkovits, M.
Mezey, E
SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications
title SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications
title_full SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications
title_fullStr SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications
title_full_unstemmed SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications
title_short SARS-CoV-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications
title_sort sars-cov-2 entry sites are present in all structural elements of the human glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves: clinical implications
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8750701/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35018378
http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.30.474580
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