High expression of SARS-CoV2 viral entry-related proteins in human limbal stem cells
Abstract
Purpose:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). While the ocular surface is considered one of the major SARS-CoV2 transmission routes, the specific cellular tropism of SARS-CoV2 is not fully understood. In the current study, we evaluated the expression and regulation of two SARS-CoV2 viral entry proteins, TMPRSS2 and ACE2, in human ocular epithelial cells and stem cells.
Methods:
TMPRSS2 and ACE2 expression in ABCB5-positive limbal stem cells (LSCs) were assessed by RNAseq, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. PAX6, TMPRSS2, and ACE2 mRNA expression values were obtained from the GSE135455 and DRA002960 RNA-seq datasets. siRNA-mediated PAX6 knockdown (KD) was performed in limbal and conjunctival epithelial cells. TMPRSS2 and ACE2 expression in the PAX6 KD cells was analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blot.
Results:
We found that ABCB5-positive LSCs express high levels of TMPRSS2 and ACE2 compared to ABCB5-negative limbal epithelial cells. Mechanistically, gene knockout and overexpression models revealed that the eye transcription factor PAX6 negatively regulates TMPRSS2 expression. Therefore, low levels of PAX6 in ABCB5-positive LSCs promote TMPRSS2 expression, and high levels of TMPRSS2 and ACE2 expression by LSCs indicate enhanced susceptibility to SARS-CoV2 infection in this stem cell population.
Conclusions:
Our study points to a need for COVID-19 testing of LSCs derived from donor corneas before transplantation to patients with limbal stem cell deficiency. Furthermore, our findings suggest that expandable human ABCB5+ LSC cultures might represent a relevant novel model system for studying cellular SARS-CoV2 viral entry mechanisms and evaluating related targeting strategies.
RAS ID
42680
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2022
Volume
23
Funding Information
National Institutes of Health grants 1K99EY031741, 1R01EY025794, R24EY028767 , Schepens Core grant P30EY003790, grant 2T32EB016652-06
PubMed ID
34653711
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
Copyright
free_to_read
Publisher
Elsevier
Recommended Citation
Sasamoto, Y., Lee, C. A., Yoshihara, M., Martin, G., Ksander, B. R., Frank, M. H., & Frank, N. Y. (2022). High expression of SARS-CoV2 viral entry-related proteins in human limbal stem cells. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2021.10.002
Comments
Sasamoto, Y., Lee, C. A., Yoshihara, M., Martin, G., Ksander, B. R., Frank, M. H., & Frank, N. Y. (2022). High expression of SARS-CoV2 viral entry-related proteins in human limbal stem cells. The ocular surface, 23, 197-200.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2021.10.002