Abstract：
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic dictated new priorities in biomedicine research. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus. In this pilot study, we optimized our padlock assay to visualize genomic and subgenomic regions using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded placental samples obtained from a confirmed case of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was localized in trophoblastic cells. We also checked the presence of the virion by immunolocalization of its glycoprotein spike. In addition, we imaged mitochondria of placental villi keeping in mind that the mitochondrion has been suggested as a potential residence of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. We observed a substantial overlapping of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and mitochondria in trophoblastic cells. This intriguing linkage correlated with an aberrant mitochondrial network. Overall, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that provides evidence of colocalization of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and mitochondria in SARS-CoV-2 infected tissue. These findings also support the notion that SARS-CoV-2 infection can reprogram mitochondrial activity in the highly specialized maternal-fetal interface.
摘要：
持续的COVID-19大流行决定了生物医学研究的新优先事项。严重急性呼吸道综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2），COVID-19的致病因子是一种单链正义RNA病毒。在这项试点研究中，我们优化了我们的挂锁检测方法,使用从确诊的COVID-19病例中获得的福尔马林固定石蜡包埋的胎盘样本显示基因组和亚基因组区域.SARS-CoV-2RNA定位于滋养细胞中。我们还通过其糖蛋白尖峰的免疫定位来检查病毒体的存在。此外,我们对胎盘绒毛的线粒体进行了成像，同时牢记线粒体已被认为是SARS-CoV-2基因组的潜在居所。我们观察到滋养细胞中SARS-CoV-2RNA和线粒体的大量重叠。这种有趣的联系与异常的线粒体网络相关。总的来说,据我们所知,这是第一项提供SARS-CoV-2基因组和线粒体在SARS-CoV-2感染组织中共定位的证据的研究。这些发现也支持SARS-CoV-2感染可以在高度专业化的母胎界面中重新编程线粒体活性的观点。
