Organoids in COVID-19 research

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused that many of research teams around the world have had to focus on the study of its disease, the COVID-19. The knowledge of its infective mechanism and the search for effective treatments have been the main aim for many of them, and this is why they have had to work under pressure and with the latest technology. One of these methods has been the use of Organoids, also known as “mini-organs”, on which this review will be focused. Organoids are three-dimensional structures composed of cells and originated in vitro from stem cells of different types, depending on the organ to be achieved. Once the structure is formed, it could be used for disease research, in this case for COVID-19 disease, by inoculating SARS-CoV-2 and studying the infective mechanism, the target molecules the virus uses to enter the host cell and spread, and the organs it affects, and thus, organoids could be applied to understand the disease and also to search effective therapies, which most of them will be involved with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which participates in renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), and that it also turn out to be the receptor that virus uses to enter the cell. By blocking this enzyme, the researched drug is able to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection.