Critical role of type III interferon in controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection in human intestinal epithelial cells
Megan L. Stanifer
Carmon Kee
Mirko Cortese
Theodore Alexandrov
Open AccessPublished:June 19, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107863
Summary
SARS-CoV-2 is an unprecedented worldwide health problem that requires concerted and global approaches to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. Although SARS-CoV-2 primarily targets lung epithelium cells, there is growing evidence that the intestinal epithelium is also infected. Here, using both colon-derived cell lines and primary non-transformed colon organoids, we engage in the first comprehensive analysis of SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle in human intestinal epithelial cells (hIECs). Our results demonstrate that hIECs fully support SARS-CoV-2 infection, replication and production of infectious de-novo virus particles. We found that viral infection elicited an extremely robust intrinsic immune response where interferon-mediated responses were efficient at controlling SARS-CoV-2 replication and de-novo virus production. Taken together, our data demonstrate that hIECs are a productive site of SARS-CoV-2 replication and suggest that the enteric phase of SARS-CoV-2 may participate in the pathologies observed in COVID-19 patients by contributing in increasing patient viremia and by fueling an exacerbated cytokine response.