Our new research paper on COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 infection of kidney cells is now available on bioRxiv!

In this work, we show that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect kidney glomerular podocytes through multiple receptors, including ACE2 and BSG/CD147, and cause cellular changes associated with podocytopathies such as collapsing glomerulopathy observed in patients with severe COVID-19 disease. This disease model is potentially useful for kidney-specific antiviral drug screening and mechanistic studies of COVID-19 organotropism.

Congratulations to postdoctoral fellow and first author, Dr. Titilola Kalejaiye! Many thanks to our DHVI collaborator Dr. Maria Blasi!