COVID‐19 pandemic caused by SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is a public health emergency. COVID‐19 typically exhibits respiratory illness. Unexpectedly, emerging clinical reports indicate that neurological symptoms continue to rise, suggesting detrimental effects of SARS‐CoV‐2 on the central nervous system (CNS). Here, we show that a Düsseldorf isolate of SARS‐CoV‐2 enters 3D human brain organoids within 2 days of exposure. We identified that SARS‐CoV‐2 preferably targets neurons of brain organoids. Imaging neurons of organoids reveal that SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure is associated with altered distribution of Tau from axons to soma, hyperphosphorylation, and apparent neuronal death. Our studies, therefore, provide initial insights into the potential neurotoxic effect of SARS‐CoV‐2 and emphasize that brain organoids could model CNS pathologies of COVID‐19.

中文翻译：

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SARS-CoV-2靶向3D人脑类器官的神经元。

SARS-CoV-2感染引起的COVID-19大流行是突发公共卫生事件。COVID-19通常表现出呼吸系统疾病。出乎意料的是，新出现的临床报告表明神经系统症状持续加剧，表明SARS-CoV-2对中枢神经系统（CNS）的有害影响。在这里，我们证明了杜塞尔多夫SARS-CoV-2分离株在接触后2天内进入了3D人脑类器官。我们确定SARS-CoV-2最好针对脑类器官的神经元。对类器官的神经元成像显示，SARS-CoV-2暴露与Tau从轴突到体细胞分布的改变，过度磷酸化和明显的神经元死亡有关。因此，我们的研究为SARS-CoV-2的潜在神经毒性作用提供了初步见解，并强调脑类器官可以模拟COVID-19的CNS病理。