Join the QLD Analytical and Environmental Group in a COVID-19 and Chemistry webinar featuring Dr Kirsty Short, Australian Research Fellow, SCMB UQ, and Dr Paul Bertsch, Science Director, Land and Water CSIRO.

The webinar will take place on Tuesday 20 April 2021 from 11am - 12 noon via Zoom.

The link will be emailed to all registrants the day before the event. If you have not received the event link please email [email protected] and it will be re-sent to you.

Pediatric nasal epithelial cells are less permissive to SARS-CoV-2 replication compared to adult cells

Rationale Young children (typically those <10 years old) are less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms compared to adults. However, the mechanisms that underlie these age-dependent differences remain to be determined and could inform future therapeutics for adults.

Objective To contrast the infection dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in primary nasal epithelial cells from adults and children.

Methods Viral replication was quantified by plaque assay. The cellular transcriptome of infected and uninfected cells was assessed by RNA-seq. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 protein expression were quantified by Western Blot.

Measurements and Main Results We report significantly higher SARS-CoV-2 replication in adult compared to pediatric nasal epithelial cells. This was restricted to SARS-CoV-2 infection, as the same phenomenon was not observed with influenza virus infection. The differentiational SARS-CoV-2 replication dynamics were associated with an elevated type I and III interferon response, and a more pronounced inflammatory response in pediatric cells. No significant difference between the two age groups was observed in the protein levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2.

Conclusions Our data suggest that the innate immune response of pediatric nasal epithelial cells, and not differential receptor expression, may contribute to the reported reduced SARS-COV-2 infection and symptoms reported amongst children.