“Abstract: In addition to respiratory complications produced by SARS‐CoV‐2, accumulating evidence suggests that some neurological symptoms are associated with the disease caused by this coronavirus. In this study, we investigated the effects of the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein S1 stimulation on neuroinflammation in BV-2 microglia... These results have provided the first evidence demonstrating S1-induced neuroinflammation in BV-2 microglia. We propose that induction of neuroinflammation by this protein in the microglia is mediated through activation of NF-κB and p38 MAPK, possibly as a result of TLR4 activation...
Discussion: ... In this study, we showed for the first time that the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein sub-unit S1 activated BV-2 microglia as demonstrated by an increase in the protein expression of Iba-1, which is mainly expressed by the microglia and increased by the activation of these cells. We further demonstrated that activation of BV-2 microglia by S1 resulted in the increased release of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β, which are hallmarks of neuroinflammation. Activation of neuroinflammatory processes by the spike S1 protein was further confirmed by results showing increased iNOS-mediated production of NO by the protein in microglia. Elevated iNOS/NO has been previously linked to a wide range of CNS disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and migraine.”
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