Brogna Carlo, Brogna Barbara, Bisaccia Domenico Rocco, Lauritano Francesco, Marino Giuliano, Montano Luigi, Cristoni Simone, Prisco Marina, Piscopo Marina
Department of Research, Craniomed Group Facility Srl., 20091 Bresso, Italy.
Department of Radiology, Moscati Hospital, Contrada Amoretta, 83100 Avellino, Italy.
Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Apr 29;10(5):708. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10050708.
SARS-CoV-2 has become one of the most studied viruses of the last century. It was assumed that the only possible host for these types of viruses was mammalian eukaryotic cells. Our recent studies show that microorganisms in the human gastrointestinal tract affect the severity of COVID-19 and for the first time provide indications that the virus might replicate in gut bacteria. In order to further support these findings, in the present work, cultures of bacteria from the human microbiome and SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed by electron and fluorescence microscopy. The images presented in this article, in association with the nitrogen (N) isotope-labeled culture medium experiment, suggest that SARS-CoV-2 could also infect bacteria in the gut microbiota, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 could act as a bacteriophage. Our results add new knowledge to the understanding of the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and fill gaps in the study of the interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and non-mammalian cells. These findings could be useful in suggesting specific new pharmacological solutions to support the vaccination campaign.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）已成为上个世纪研究最多的病毒之一。人们曾认为这类病毒唯一可能的宿主是哺乳动物真核细胞。我们最近的研究表明，人类胃肠道中的微生物会影响新冠肺炎的严重程度，并首次提供迹象表明该病毒可能在肠道细菌中复制。为了进一步支持这些发现，在本研究中，我们通过电子显微镜和荧光显微镜对来自人类微生物组的细菌培养物和SARS-CoV-2进行了分析。本文呈现的图像，结合氮（N）同位素标记培养基实验，表明SARS-CoV-2也可能感染肠道微生物群中的细菌，这表明SARS-CoV-2可能作为一种噬菌体发挥作用。我们的研究结果为理解SARS-CoV-2感染机制增添了新知识，并填补了SARS-CoV-2与非哺乳动物细胞相互作用研究的空白。这些发现可能有助于提出特定的新药理学解决方案，以支持疫苗接种运动。
