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. 2020 May 13:NEJMc2011400. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2011400

Figure 1. Multiorgan SARS-CoV-2 Tropism and Spatially Resolved Affinity for Kidney Cells.

Figure 1

Panel A shows detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the organs in association with the number of coexisting conditions in each patient. The red arrow highlights the viral load in the kidneys (one of the most common targets of SARS-CoV-2). Viremia as such did not correlate with the detected multiorgan tropism. NA denotes not available. Panel B shows the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in key organs, with a broad organotropism of the virus. The red arrow highlights the viral load in the kidneys, and the red rectangles indicate the median values in all organs. Each gray dot represents data from one patient. Panel C shows renal tropism detected with the use of in situ hybridization (spatially resolved viral RNA detection) and indirect immunofluorescence (spatially resolved viral protein detection) with confocal microscopy. In situ hybridization showed SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in the lung and renal parenchyma (boxed areas show examples in each organ). Immunofluorescence of the lung specimen showed cells with SARS-CoV-2 protein (boxed areas), and immunofluorescence of the kidney specimen showed SARS-CoV-2 protein in areas of the glomerular epithelial (orange arrow), endothelial (white arrows), and tubular (white outline) cells. Scale bars represent 50 μm in the in situ hybridization images and 10 μm in the immunofluorescence images. PCR denotes polymerase chain reaction.