Spatiotemporal analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals an expansive wave of monocyte-derived macrophages associated with vascular damage and virus clearance in hamster lungs

Bagato, Ola; Balkema-Buschmann, Anne; Todt, Daniel; Weber, Saskia; Gömer, André; Qu, Bingqian; Miskey, Csaba; Ivics, Zoltan; Mettenleiter, Thomas, C.; Finke, Stefan; Brown, Richard, J., P.; Breithaupt, Angele; Ushakov, Dmitry, S.

doi:10.1128/spectrum.02469-23

Article Mon Nov 27 2023 CC BY 4.0

refereed

published

Spatiotemporal analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals an expansive wave of monocyte-derived macrophages associated with vascular damage and virus clearance in hamster lungs

Bagato, Ola ; Balkema-Buschmann, Anne ; Todt, Daniel ; Weber, Saskia ; Gömer, André ; Qu, Bingqian ; Miskey, Csaba ; Ivics, Zoltan ; Mettenleiter, Thomas C.; Finke, Stefan ; Brown, Richard J. P.; Breithaupt, Angele ; Ushakov, Dmitry S.

We present the first study of the 3D kinetics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the early host response in a large lung volume using a combination of tissue imaging and transcriptomics. This approach allowed us to make a number of important findings:Spatially restricted antiviral response is shown, including the formation of monocytic macrophage clusters and upregulation of the major histocompatibility complex II in infected epithelial cells.The monocyte-derived macrophages are linked to SARS-CoV-2 clearance, and the appearance of these cells is associated with post-infection endothelial damage; thus, we shed light on the role of these cells in infected tissue.An early onset of tissue repair occurring simultaneously with inflammatory and necrotizing processes provides the basis for longer-term alterations in the lungs.