Fig. 8: SARS-CoV-2 infection targets ciliated cells in the trachea of infected Syrian golden hamsters.

A Immunofluorescence imaging of hamster tracheas at 4 dpi. Ciliated cells are labeled with β-tubulin IV (red), basal cells by cytokeratin-5 (yellow), and nuclei by Hoechst (blue). Representative images are shown for a mock-infected animal (left, n = 3), and SARS-CoV-2-infected animals who received a low dose (middle, n = 2) or a high dose (right, n = 2) of virus. B–D Whole-mount immunofluorescence imaging of the tracheal epithelium of mock-infected (left) or SARS-CoV-2-infected (middle and right) hamsters at 4 dpi. Labeling for the SARS-CoV-2 spike (B, green), the ciliated cell marker β-tubulin IV (C, red), or both markers (D) are shown. The tracheal epithelium obtained in the infected animal show various degrees of cilia destruction (middle, right) depending on the area.