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[Nature Medicine] Infection of bat and human intestinal organoids by SARS-CoV-2

Nature Medicine, May 13 2020

Jie Zhou, Cun Li, Xiaojuan Liu, Man Chun Chiu, Xiaoyu Zhao, Dong Wang, Yuxuan Wei, Andrew Lee, Anna Jinxia Zhang, Hin Chu, Jian-Piao Cai, Cyril Chik-Yan Yip, Ivy Hau-Yee Chan, Kenneth Kak-Yuen Wong, Owen Tak-Yin Tsang, Kwok-Hung Chan, Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, Kelvin Kai-Wang To, Honglin Chen & Kwok Yung Yuen

Active SARS-CoV-2 replication in bat enteroids.

Highlights:

  • We show the establishment and characterization of expandable intestinal organoids derived from horseshoe bats of the Rhinolophus sinicus species that can recapitulate bat intestinal epithelium.
  • Bat enteroids (type of organoid obtained from the small intestine) are fully susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and sustain robust viral replication.
  • We demonstrate active replication of SARS-CoV-2 in human intestinal organoids and isolation of infectious virus from the stool specimen of a patient with diarrheal COVID-19.
  • Established the first expandable organoid culture system of bat intestinal epithelium and present evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can infect bat intestinal cells.
  • The robust SARS-CoV-2 replication in human intestinal organoids suggests that the human intestinal tract might be a transmission route of SARS-CoV-2.

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