Organ-specific genome diversity of replication-competent SARS-CoV-2

Jolien Van Cleemput (), Willem van Snippenberg, Laurens Lambrechts, Amélie Dendooven, Valentino D’Onofrio, Liesbeth Couck, Wim Trypsteen, Jan Vanrusselt, Sebastiaan Theuns, Nick Vereecke, Thierry P. P. van den Bosch, Martin Lammens, Ann Driessen, Ruth Achten, Ken R. Bracke, Wim Van den Broeck, Jan Von der Thüsen, Hans Nauwynck, Jo Van Dorpe, Sarah Gerlo, Piet Maes, Janneke Cox and Linos Vandekerckhove ()
Additional contact information
Jolien Van Cleemput: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Willem van Snippenberg: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Laurens Lambrechts: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Amélie Dendooven: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Valentino D’Onofrio: Hasselt University
Liesbeth Couck: Ghent University
Wim Trypsteen: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Jan Vanrusselt: Jessa hospital
Sebastiaan Theuns: PathoSense BV
Nick Vereecke: PathoSense BV
Thierry P. P. van den Bosch: Erasmus MC
Martin Lammens: Antwerp University Hospital
Ann Driessen: Antwerp University Hospital
Ruth Achten: Antwerp University Hospital
Ken R. Bracke: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Wim Van den Broeck: Ghent University
Jan Von der Thüsen: Erasmus MC
Hans Nauwynck: Ghent University
Jo Van Dorpe: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Sarah Gerlo: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
Piet Maes: KU Leuven
Janneke Cox: Hasselt University
Linos Vandekerckhove: Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is not always confined to the respiratory system, as it impacts people on a broad clinical spectrum from asymptomatic to severe systemic manifestations resulting in death. Further, accumulation of intra-host single nucleotide variants during prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection may lead to emergence of variants of concern (VOCs). Still, information on virus infectivity and intra-host evolution across organs is sparse. We report a detailed virological analysis of thirteen postmortem coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases that provides proof of viremia and presence of replication-competent SARS-CoV-2 in extrapulmonary organs of immunocompromised patients, including heart, kidney, liver, and spleen (NCT04366882). In parallel, we identify organ-specific SARS-CoV-2 genome diversity and mutations of concern N501Y, T1027I, and Y453F, while the patient had died long before reported emergence of VOCs. These mutations appear in multiple organs and replicate in Vero E6 cells, highlighting their infectivity. Finally, we show two stages of fatal disease evolution based on disease duration and viral loads in lungs and plasma. Our results provide insights about the pathogenesis and intra-host evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and show that COVID-19 treatment and hygiene measures need to be tailored to specific needs of immunocompromised patients, even when respiratory symptoms cease.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26884-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26884-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26884-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().