Journal article

Infection of human Nasal Epithelial Cells with SARS-CoV-2 and a 382-nt deletion isolate lacking ORF8 reveals similar viral kinetics and host transcriptional profiles

AM Gamage, K Sen, WOY Chan, J Liu, CW Tan, YK Ong, M Thong, AK Andiappan, DE Anderson, DY Wang, LF Wang

Plos Pathogens | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2020

Abstract

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a global healthcare and economic catastrophe. Understanding of the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is still in its infancy. A 382-nt deletion strain lacking ORF8 (Δ382 herein) was isolated in Singapore in March 2020. Infection with Δ382 was associated with less severe disease in patients, compared to infection with wild-type SARS-CoV-2. Here, we established Nasal Epithelial cells (NECs) differentiated from healthy nasal-tissue derived stem cells as a suitable model for the ex-vivo study of SARS-CoV-2 mediated pathogenesis. Infection of NECs with either SARS-CoV-2 or Δ382 resulted in virus parti..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by National Medical Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

This research was funded by National Medical Research Council, Singapore No. MOH-COVID19RF2-0001 (to DYW, L-FW and DEA) and COVID19RF-003 (to L-FW and DEA); KST is a recipient of fellowship support from European Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Research Fellowship 2019. AKA is a recipient of fellowship support from EAACI Research Fellowship 2017. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.