Human erythroid progenitors are directly infected by SARS-CoV-2: Implications for emerging erythropoiesis in severe COVID-19 patients
More about Open Access at the CrickAuthors list
Hector Huerga Encabo William Grey Manuel Garcia Albornoz Henry Wood Rachel Ulferts Iker Valle Aramburu Austin G Kulasekararaj Ghulam Mufti Venizelos Papayannopoulos Rupert Beale Dominique BonnetAbstract
We document here that intensive care COVID-19 patients suffer a profound decline in hemoglobin levels but show an increase of circulating nucleated red cells, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 infection either directly or indirectly induces stress erythropoiesis. We show that ACE2 expression peaks during erythropoiesis and renders erythroid progenitors vulnerable to infection by SARS-CoV-2. Early erythroid progenitors, defined as CD34-CD117+CD71+CD235a-, show the highest levels of ACE2 and constitute the primary target cell to be infected during erythropoiesis. SARS-CoV-2 causes the expansion of colony formation by erythroid progenitors and can be detected in these cells after 2 weeks of the initial infection. Our findings constitute the first report of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in erythroid progenitor cells and can contribute to understanding both the clinical symptoms of severe COVID-19 patients and how the virus can spread through the circulation to produce local inflammation in tissues, including the bone marrow.
Journal details
Journal Stem Cell Reports
Volume 16
Issue number 3
Pages 428-436
Available online
Publication date
Full text links
Publisher website (DOI) 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.02.001
Figshare View on figshare
Europe PubMed Central 33581053
Pubmed 33581053
Keywords
Related topics
Type of publication