SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids

  • COVID Moonshot consortium
  • , Jitske Jansen
  • , Katharina C Reimer
  • , James S Nagai
  • , Finny S Varghese
  • , Gijs J Overheul
  • , Marit de Beer
  • , Rona Roverts
  • , Deniz Daviran
  • , Liline A S Fermin
  • , Brigith Willemsen
  • , Marcel Beukenboom
  • , Sonja Djudjaj
  • , Saskia von Stillfried
  • , Larissa E van Eijk
  • , Mirjam Mastik
  • , Marian Bulthuis
  • , Wilfred den Dunnen
  • , Harry van Goor
  • , Jan-Luuk Hillebrands
  • Sergio H Triana, Theodore Alexandrov, Marie-Cherelle Timm, Bartholomeus T van den Berge, Martijn van den Broek, Quincy Nlandu, Joelle Heijnert, Eric M J Bindels, Remco M Hoogenboezem, Fieke Mooren, Christoph Kuppe, Pascal Miesen, Katrien Grünberg, Ties Ijzermans, Eric J Steenbergen, Jan Czogalla, Michiel F Schreuder, Nico Sommerdijk, Anat Akiva, Peter Boor, Victor G Puelles, Jürgen Floege, Tobias B Huber, Ronald P van Rij, Ivan G Costa, Rebekka K Schneider, Bart Smeets, Rafael Kramann*
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Kidney failure is frequently observed during and after COVID-19, but it remains elusive whether this is a direct effect of the virus. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 directly infects kidney cells and is associated with increased tubule-interstitial kidney fibrosis in patient autopsy samples. To study direct effects of the virus on the kidney independent of systemic effects of COVID-19, we infected human-induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived kidney organoids with SARS-CoV-2. Single-cell RNA sequencing indicated injury and dedifferentiation of infected cells with activation of profibrotic signaling pathways. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 infection also led to increased collagen 1 protein expression in organoids. A SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor was able to ameliorate the infection of kidney cells by SARS-CoV-2. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect kidney cells and induce cell injury with subsequent fibrosis. These data could explain both acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and the development of chronic kidney disease in long COVID.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)217-231.e8
Number of pages24
JournalCell stem cell
Volume29
Issue number2
Early online date25-Dec-2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb-2022

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