Internal medicine

Pathology

Disease

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Epithelium

Biology

Proinflammatory cytokine

Virology

Immunology

Lung

Interferon

Inflammation

Coronavirus

Respiratory epithelium

Respiratory system

Medicine

Cell Reports

In vitro models of human lung epithelium, including diverse cell types of the proximo-distal axis, are critical for modeling infection. Mulay et al. show that alveospheres, with epithelial type 2- and type 1-like cells, are infected by SARS-CoV-2, initiating an interferon response, and serve as a platform for screening antiviral drugs.

SARS-CoV-2 infection of primary human lung epithelium for COVID-19 modeling and drug discovery