# Innate Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 in AD mouse models

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2023 · $395,791

## Abstract

RESEARCH SUMMARY
Sudden-onset of olfactory loss has been recognized as a common COVID-19 symptom during the early phase
of the pandemic. Whether the degree of olfactory deficit in COVID-19 is indicative of any long-term
neurological diseases has not been carefully evaluated. Olfactory dysfunction is well recognized as an early
symptom of dementia, particularly in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Recent human study identified that
SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Using mouse models, we
observed expanded inflammatory responses in the olfactory epithelium upon sparse SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Widespread olfactory receptor downregulation has been reported under viral infection suggesting that there
might be a distributed viral impact from localized viral infection in the olfactory epithelium. We hypothesize that
widespread the inflammatory response in the olfactory epithelium, triggered by SARS-CoV-2, enhances the
impact of familial Alzheimer’s disease mutations resulting accelerated disease progression. In this study, we
will characterize inflammatory responses to SARS-CoV-2 in the olfactory epithelium and the olfactory bulb in
Alzheimer’s disease mouse models; and we will further determine SARS-CoV-2 infection induced olfactory
functional deficits in AD mouse models. Through this study, we will gain understanding of genetic background
dependent molecular and histological changes upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. This pilot study will also establish
premise for using olfactory pathway as an entry point to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in
Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10713817
- **Project number:** 3R01DC019769-01A1S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Qizhi Gong
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $395,791
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10713817

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10713817, Innate Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 in AD mouse models (3R01DC019769-01A1S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10713817. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*