Li Jiao: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Yun Yang: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Wenhai Yu: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Yuan Zhao: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Haiting Long: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Jiahong Gao: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Kaiyun Ding: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Chunxia Ma: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Jingmei Li: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Siwen Zhao: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Haixuan Wang: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Haiyan Li: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Mengli Yang: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Jingwen Xu: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Junbin Wang: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Jing Yang: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Dexuan Kuang: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Fangyu Luo: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Xingli Qian: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Longjiang Xu: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Bin Yin: State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Medical Primate Research Center, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Wei Liu: Department of Anatomy, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Hongqi Liu: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China. lhq@imbcams.com.cn.
Shuaiyao Lu: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China. lushuaiyao-km@163.com.
Xiaozhong Peng: National Kunming High-Level Biosafety Primate Research Center, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, China. pengxiaozhong@pumc.edu.cn. ORCID
Neurological manifestations are frequently reported in the COVID-19 patients. Neuromechanism of SARS-CoV-2 remains to be elucidated. In this study, we explored the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 neurotropism via our established non-human primate model of COVID-19. In rhesus monkey, SARS-CoV-2 invades the CNS primarily via the olfactory bulb. Thereafter, viruses rapidly spread to functional areas of the central nervous system, such as hippocampus, thalamus, and medulla oblongata. The infection of SARS-CoV-2 induces the inflammation possibly by targeting neurons, microglia, and astrocytes in the CNS. Consistently, SARS-CoV-2 infects neuro-derived SK-N-SH, glial-derived U251, and brain microvascular endothelial cells in vitro. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence of SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasion in the NHP model, which provides important insights into the CNS-related pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2.
