Infected sensory neurons synthesize SARS-CoV-2 RNA but do not replicate progeny virion
(A) Fraction of negative strand SARS-CoV-2 RNA compared to the total number of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Negative strand SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in sensory neurons and 293T cells positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in scRNA-seq.
(B) Plaque forming assay on hiPSC-derived cortical and sensory neurons and Calu-3 cells exposed to WA1/2020 SARS-CoV-2 for 24, 48 and 72 h. N = 3; t-test ∗p value<0.05. Mean ± S.E.M.
(C) Detection of viral dsRNA and neuronal marker beta3-Tubulin (TUBB3) by immunofluorescence in hiPSC-sensory neurons co-cultured with HEK293T cells exposed to WA1/2020 SARS-CoV-2 for 48h. Scale: 20μm. C′ zoom of the inset presented in C.
(D) Detection of SARS-CoV-2’s Nucleocapsid and neuronal marker beta3-Tubulin (TUBB3) by immunofluorescence in hiPSC-sensory neurons co-cultured with HEK293T cells exposed to WA1/2020 SARS-CoV-2 for 48h. Scale: 20μm. D′ zoom of the inset presented in D.
(E) Boxplot of average Nucleocapsid staining intensity in the axons of hiPSC-sensory neurons co-cultured with HEK293T cells exposed to WA1/2020 SARS-CoV-2 for 48h. Average with min and max, +/− SD.