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. 2021 Oct 4;12:735922. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.735922

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Copyright © 2021 Valdebenito, Bessis, Annane, Lorin de la Grandmaison, Cramer–Bordé, Prideaux, Eugenin and Bomsel

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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COVID-19 disease induces the total loss of smooth muscle actin cells and lung structure. Staining for nuclei (DAPI, blue staining), SARS-CoV-2 protein M (SARS-CoV-2-M, green staining), smooth muscle actin (SMA, red staining), and SARS-CoV-2-mRNA (White staining) was performed. 3D reconstructions of lung samples collected from uninfected (control) and COVID-19 (Type 1 or 2, enhanced coagulation and immune infiltration phenotype). SMA “decorates” the alveolar wall in control conditions, and no unspecific viral protein or mRNA staining was found as expected (Control). In contrast, in the enhanced coagulation phenotype (COVID-19, type I, damage), SMA’s significant total loss was observed (COVID-19-type 1). Again, most viral protein M was concentrated inside blood vessels. In the immune infiltrating phenotype, we also observed SMC loss in all samples and areas analyzed. (n = 13-15 different cases analyzed with a least five sections each).