Dysregulation of type I interferon responses in COVID-19

Dhiraj Acharya; GuanQun Liu; Michaela U Gack

doi:10.1038/s41577-020-0346-x

Dysregulation of type I interferon responses in COVID-19

Nat Rev Immunol. 2020 Jul;20(7):397-398. doi: 10.1038/s41577-020-0346-x. Epub 2020 May 26.

Authors

Dhiraj Acharya¹, GuanQun Liu¹, Michaela U Gack²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
² Department of Microbiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. mgack@uchicago.edu.

Abstract

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 can lead to excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, but the production of type I interferons, which are key antiviral mediators, is reportedly blunted. Here, we discuss how imbalanced interferon responses may contribute to the pathology of COVID-19.

MeSH terms

Animals
Betacoronavirus / physiology
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / drug therapy
Coronavirus Infections / immunology*
Coronavirus Infections / pathology*
Humans
Interferon Type I / immunology*
Interferon-alpha / administration & dosage
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / drug therapy
Pneumonia, Viral / immunology*
Pneumonia, Viral / pathology*
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Interferon Type I
Interferon-alpha