SARS-CoV-2 Attacks in the Brain: Focus on the Sialome

Przemyslaw Wielgat; Karolina Narejko; Halina Car

doi:10.3390/cells11091458

SARS-CoV-2 Attacks in the Brain: Focus on the Sialome

Cells. 2022 Apr 26;11(9):1458. doi: 10.3390/cells11091458.

Authors

Przemyslaw Wielgat¹, Karolina Narejko¹, Halina Car^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Bialystok, Waszyngtona 15A, 15-274 Bialystok, Poland.
² Department of Experimental Pharmacology, Medical University of Bialystok, Szpitalna 37, 15-265 Bialystok, Poland.

Abstract

The epidemiological observations suggest that respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are accompanied by short- and long-term neurological manifestations. There is increasing evidence that the neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to its capacity to interact with cell membrane sialome. Given the wide expression of sialylated compounds of cell membranes in the brain, the interplay between cell membrane sialoglycans and the virus is crucial for its attachment and cell entry, transport, neuronal damage and brain immunity. Here, we focus on the significance of the brain sialome in the progress of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and SARS-CoV-2-induced neuropathology.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; brain; inflammation; neurons; sialic acid.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain
COVID-19*
Humans
Nervous System Diseases* / etiology
Neurons
SARS-CoV-2