Scientists have shown that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can infect cells expressed in the salivary gland of the mouth. The study was led by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and their collaborators in the Human Cell Oral Atlas
The study found that salivary gland cells could play a role in the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to the lungs or digestive system through saliva. Understanding buccal cell involvement can also indicate how to reduce internal and external viral transmission. the body.
Reported (March 25) in Nature Medicine, this first publication with Oral HCA
Previous studies have shown that cells in the nose and lungs contain high levels of RNA for key proteins that allow the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter cells. However, the role of the mouth in the transmission of COVID-19 is not well understood. Although it is known that saliva from other people with COVID-19 may involve SARS-CoV-2, it is unclear whether buccal cells are involved.
To investigate the role of buccal cells, the researchers first studied oral tissue samples from healthy volunteers, employing bioinformatics and single-cell RNA sequencing generation methods. They looked for individual cells that expressed two key entry proteins, ACE2 and the protease TMPRSS2, which SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect human cells and found that ductal cells in salivary glands and some gingival or gum cells expressed either protein. This showed that those cells were vulnerable to infection.
Next, the researchers studied the oral tissues of COVID-19 patients who had died or been given biopsy samples. They discovered SARS-CoV-2 RNA in salivary gland cells, indicating that those cells had been infected, and found that the virus replicated in some of those cells.
The study also found that saliva from people with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 contained buccal cells carrying SARS-CoV-2 RNA and input protein RNA. When saliva from eight of the asymptomatic people was added to monkey cells grown in dishes, some of those cells have become infected. This raises the possibility that even other people without symptoms could transmit infectious SARS-CoV-2 to others through saliva.
Professor Kevin M. Byrd, co-director of the study and coordinator of HCA Oral
Finally, to explore the dating between oral symptoms and the virus in saliva, the team collected saliva from a separate organization of 35 NIH volunteers with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19. Of the other 27 people who experienced symptoms, those whose saliva became inflamed were most likely to report loss of taste and smell, suggesting that an oral infection could possibly be the cause of COVID-19’s oral symptoms.
Professor Blake M. Warner, Clinical Research Associate and Head of the NIDCR Salivary Disorders Unit, who co-led the study, said: “By revealing a potentially underestimated role of the oral hollow space in SARS-CoV-2 infection, our study may open up new avenues of research leading to a better course of infection and disease. These data may also indicate interventions to combat the virus and relieve oral symptoms of COVID-19.
The paintings were made as part of the global Human Cell Atlas consortium, which aims to create reference maps of all human cells to understand health and disease. More than 2,000 people in 75 countries participate in HCA’s network paints and data can be freely shared. to scientists around the world.
The immediate collaboration between the researchers of this study led to the creation of the HCA Oral and Craniofacial Biological Network. The goal is to create comprehensive maps of oral and craniofacial cells as a basis for oral health and disease.
Data from the Human Cell Atlas is used to perceive COVID-19 and identify which of our mobiles are critical for initial infection and transmission. This first built-in atlas of adult human oral mobiles is freely available to perceive the transmission of SARS-Cov-2 and say preventive measures to reduce the spread of this coronavirus. The global network of human mobile atlases will continue to examine mobiles and targets that could be affected by COVID-19. “
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Huang, N. , et al. (2021) SARS-CoV-2 infection of the oral hollow space and saliva. Natural is je. org/10. 1038/s41591-021-01296-8.
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