Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33113348›Full record

ArticleCell stem cell2020

SARS-CoV-2 Infects the Brain Choroid Plexus and Disrupts the Blood-CSF Barrier in Human Brain Organoids.

Laura Pellegrini, Anna Albecka, Donna L Mallery, Max J Kellner, David Paul, Andrew P Carter, Leo C James, Madeline A Lancaster

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell stem cell, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 360 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
360citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
39.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

360 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 571 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Human brain matters: Navigating the neuropathology of COVID-19.Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland) · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Choroid plexus alterations in long COVID and their associations with IL-6.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

300 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Laura PellegriniMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
Anna AlbeckaMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
Donna L MalleryMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
Max J KellnerMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
David PaulMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
Andrew P CarterMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
Leo C JamesMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
Madeline A LancasterMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK. Electronic address: madeline.lancaster@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk.
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_UP_1201/9Medical Research Council U105181010Wellcome Trust 200594/Z/16/ZWellcome Trust 210711/Z/18/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, leads to respiratory symptoms that can be fatal. However, neurological symptoms have also been observed in some patients. The cause of these complications is currently unknown. Here, we use human-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived brain organoids to examine SARS-CoV-2 neurotropism. We find expression of viral receptor ACE2 in mature choroid plexus cells expressing abundant lipoproteins, but not in neurons or other cell types. We challenge organoids with SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus and live virus to demonstrate viral tropism for choroid plexus epithelial cells but little to no infection of neurons or glia. We find that infected cells are apolipoprotein- and ACE2-expressing cells of the choroid plexus epithelial barrier. Finally, we show that infection with SARS-CoV-2 damages the choroid plexus epithelium, leading to leakage across this important barrier that normally prevents entry of pathogens, immune cells, and cytokines into cerebrospinal fluid and the brain.

Indexed as

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2AnimalsBlood-Brain BarrierChlorocebus aethiopsChoroid PlexusHEK293 CellsHumansModels, BiologicalOrganoidsSARS-CoV-2Vero CellsViral TropismVirus InternalizationACE2 protein, humanAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2apolipoproteinblood-CSF-barriercerebral organoidschoroid plexus organoidsCOVID-19SARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID33113348
PMCPMC7553118
OpenAlexW3093347896

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.