1. Systematic functional analysis of SARS-CoV-2 proteins uncovers viral innate immune antagonists and remaining vulnerabilities
- Author
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Steffen Stenger, Carina Conzelmann, Konstantin Maria Johannes Sparrer, Frank Kirchhoff, Maximilian Hirschenberger, Daniel Sauter, Jan Münch, Wasim Aftab, Janis A. Müller, Florian I. Schmidt, Victoria Hunszinger, Axel Imhof, Smitha Srinivasachar Badarinarayan, Caterina Prelli Bozzo, Ignasi Forné, Rayhane Nchioua, Christina M. Stürzel, Susanne Klute, Manuel Hayn, Karl-Klaus Conzelmann, Maria H Christensen, Jan Hendrik Straub, Lennart Koepke, Fabian Zech, European Union (EU), and Horizon 2020
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0301 basic medicine ,Autophagosome ,autophagy ,QH301-705.5 ,viruses ,Adaptive immunity ,Biology ,Article ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,RIG-I ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune system ,Interferon ,ddc:570 ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Immunology ,Autophagy ,medicine ,Immunreaktion ,ddc:610 ,Biology (General) ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,innate immunity ,Hepatitis C ,Innate immune system ,GOLGI ,fungi ,COVID-19 ,virus diseases ,SARS-CoV ,interferon ,biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition ,Acquired immune system ,respiratory tract diseases ,Cell biology ,Coronavirus ,030104 developmental biology ,%22">Autophagie ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Interferon type I ,medicine.drug - Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 evades most innate immune responses, but may still be vulnerable to some. Here, we systematically analyzed the impact of SARS-CoV-2 proteins on interferon (IFN) responses and autophagy. We show that SARS-CoV-2 proteins synergize to counteract antiviral immune responses. For example, Nsp14 targets the type I IFN receptor for lysosomal degradation, ORF3a prevents fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes, and ORF7a interferes with autophagosome acidification. Most activities are evolutionarily conserved. However, SARS-CoV-2 Nsp15 antagonizes IFN signaling less efficiently than the orthologues of closely-related RaTG13-CoV and SARS-CoV-1. Overall, SARS-CoV-2 proteins counteract autophagy and type I IFN more efficiently than type II or III IFN signaling and infection experiments confirmed potent inhibition by IFN-γ and -λ1. Our results define the repertoire and selected mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 innate immune antagonists, but also reveal vulnerability to type II and III IFN that may help to develop safe and effective anti-viral approaches., Graphical Abstract, Hayn et al. analyze the impact of individual SARS-CoV-2 proteins on virus sensing, interferon signaling and autophagy. They define the repertoire of viral antagonists of innate immune defenses, determine selected underlying mechanisms and identify remaining vulnerabilities of SARS-CoV-2.
- Published
- 2021
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