SARS-CoV-2 causes dysfunction in human iPSC-derived brain microvascular endothelial like cells potentially by signal modulation

SARS-CoV-2 is considered to affect the central nervous system (CNS) by interacting with the blood–brain barrier (BBB), which is defined by tight junctions that seal paracellular gaps between brain microvascular endothelial like cells (BMECs). Although SARS-CoV-2 infection of BMECs has been reported, the mechanism has not been fully elucidated. Here, we investigated the mechanism using iPSC derived brain microvascular endothelial like cells (iPSC-BMELCs). We observed that iPSC-BMELCs were infected with SARS-CoV-2, which resulted in inflammatory responses. RNA-seq analysis revealed that SARS-CoV-2 modulated the expression of signal molecules in iPSC-BMELCs. These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection causes BBB dysfunction in humans. Overall design: We investigated the infection mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 in iPSC-BMELCs. We performed RNA-seq in SARS-CoV-2-infected iPSC-BMELCs. Gene analysis using RNA-seq data.