Organ-like studies have revealed how coronavirus attacks the human body

new coronavirus can destroy laboratory-cultured lung, liver and kidney tissue, pictured is an in-body culture of human liver duct cells after infection, which can help people understand some of the serious complications caused by the virus. (Photo source: Zhao Bing)
The new coronavirus can invade the lungs, liver, kidneys and other organs, but which damage is caused by the virus, which due to infection complications is not clear. Using laboratory-cultured organ-like tissue, some research groups are studying specific processes of new coronavirus attacks on humans, Nature reported.
organs can differentiate into multiple cell types and develop into prototypes close to real organs within weeks, at a lower cost than animal models, and help scientists identify therapeutic candidates.
, scientists have identified the invasion of the new coronavirus in the respiratory system through organoids. A team of researchers at Kyoto University has developed four different cell types of bronchal organs, including frozen bro outer or cortical cells.
the team's research on the preprinted platform suggests that the virus is mainly targeted at bronchal endoscopic stem cells, but does not enter bro progenior cells, and they plan to study whether the virus can spread to other cells through stem cells.
, a team from Cornell University published the results on a preprinted platform. Through organoids, they determined that the virus could enter the lungs from the upper respiratory tract and cause respiratory failure.
using lung-like organs cultured in-body, the team found that some cells die after contracting the virus, which induces the production of coercion factors and cytokines, which in turn triggers a violent immune response. But it's not clear whether cells are destroyed by self-inducing or devoured by immune cells and apoptosis.
Last month, Cell published a study from a Spanish team that found the path of infection of the new coronavirus in organs made from erypotent stem cells: through endocute cells to the inner walls of blood vessels, where viral particles can enter the bloodstream and circulate in the body. This is consistent with the pathological report of a new coronary pneumonia patient who had suffered from vascular damage.
study, published in Protein and Cells by a team at Fudan University, suggests that the new coronavirus directly infects and kills bile duodenal cells, leading to liver damage. Previously, many people believed that liver damage in patients was caused by severe immune responses or drug side effects.
also found that viruses can infect kidney and gut organs, but because individual organs do not reflect the interaction between different organs in the body, researchers need to build more complex models to understand how the virus reacts to the immune system. They also need to validate their findings with animal models and clinical trials.
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