Remodeling of intracellular architecture during SARS-CoV-2 infection of human endothelium

Clinical data indicate that COVID-19 causes cardiovascular complications, regardless of the severity of the disease. In this work, we have shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection causes vascular dysfunction due to the modification of endothelial cell elasticity. We used human pulmonary endothelial cells (HPAECs) expressing the ACE2 receptor as a model of the endothelium. This system mimics in vivo conditions, as it allows virus entry but not replication. As a reference, we used A549 epithelial cells, a well-described model that supports productive replication of SARS-CoV-2. We show that the infection of HPAECs results in loss of cell elasticity, which correlates with increased polymerization of actin filaments and induction of the inflammatory response. On the contrary, A549 epithelial cells supporting viral replication showed increased elasticity. We also showed that the endothelial cell elasticity were impaired after infection with Alpha, Beta and Delta variants. Consequently, we believe that nonproductive SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with loss of the endothelium elasticity may be clinically relevant and result in dysfunction and damage to this tissue.