Underlying Piezo2 Channelopathy Induced Neural Switch of COVID-19 Infection

The reported focal “hot spot” neuropathologies in COVID-19 infection is revealing footprints of a hidden underlying collapse of a novel ultrafast Piezo signaling system within the nervous system. Paradoxically, the same initiating pathophysiology likely underpins the systemic findings of the same study, namely the multiorgan SARS-CoV-2 infection induced vascular pathologies and brain-body wide systemic pro-inflammatory signaling. This common initiating microdamage is suggested to be the primary damage or the acquired channelopathy of the Piezo2 ion channel, leading to one principle gateway to pathophysiology. This Piezo2 channelopathy could explain the initiation of the observed disrupted cell-cell interactions, metabolic failure, microglial dysfunction, mitochondrial injury, glutamatergic synapse loss, inflammation and neurological states with the central involvement of the hippocampus and the medulla.