Macrophages and Monocytes: “Trojan Horses” in COVID-19
Elena Percivalle,
Josè Camilla Sammartino,
Irene Cassaniti,
Eloisa Arbustini,
Mario Urtis,
Alexandra Smirnova,
Monica Concardi,
Cristina Belgiovine,
Alessandro Ferrari,
Daniele Lilleri,
Antonio Piralla,
Fausto Baldanti
Affiliations
Elena Percivalle
Molecular Virology Unit, Microbiology and Virology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Josè Camilla Sammartino
Molecular Virology Unit, Microbiology and Virology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Irene Cassaniti
Molecular Virology Unit, Microbiology and Virology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Eloisa Arbustini
Transplant Research Area and Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Medical Sciences and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Mario Urtis
Transplant Research Area and Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Medical Sciences and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Alexandra Smirnova
Transplant Research Area and Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Medical Sciences and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Monica Concardi
Transplant Research Area and Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Medical Sciences and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Cristina Belgiovine
Humanitas Clinical and Research Center—IRCCS, 20089 Milan, Italy
Alessandro Ferrari
Molecular Virology Unit, Microbiology and Virology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Daniele Lilleri
Molecular Virology Unit, Microbiology and Virology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Antonio Piralla
Molecular Virology Unit, Microbiology and Virology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Fausto Baldanti
Molecular Virology Unit, Microbiology and Virology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
We aimed to explore whether variants of SARS-CoV-2 (Chinese-derived strain (D614, lineage A), Italian strain PV10734 (D614G, lineage B.1.1) and Alpha strain (lineage B.1.1.7)) were able to infect monocytes (MN) and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) and whether these infected cells may, in turn, be vectors of infection. For this purpose, we designed an in vitro study following the evolution of MN and MDM infection at different time points in order to confirm whether these cells were permissive for SARS-CoV-2 replication. Finally, we investigated whether, regardless of viral replication, the persistent virus can be transferred to non-infected cells permissive for viral replication. Thus, we co-cultured the infected MN/MDM with permissive VERO E6 cells verifying the viral transmission. This is a further in vitro demonstration of the important role of MN and MDM in the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 and evolution of the COVID-19 disease.
