Mitochondria: In the Cross Fire of SARS-CoV-2 and Immunity

Johannes Burtscher; Giuseppe Cappellano; Akiko Omori; Takumi Koshiba; Grégoire P Millet

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101631

Mitochondria: In the Cross Fire of SARS-CoV-2 and Immunity

iScience. 2020 Oct 23;23(10):101631. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101631. Epub 2020 Sep 29.

Authors

Johannes Burtscher^{1

2}, Giuseppe Cappellano^{3

4}, Akiko Omori^{5

6}, Takumi Koshiba⁷, Grégoire P Millet¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
³ Department of Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary Research Center of Autoimmune Diseases- IRCAD, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy.
⁴ Center for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Disease-CAAD, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy.
⁵ Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy.
⁶ Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine, 35129 Padova, Italy.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Fukuoka University, 814-0180 Fukuoka, Japan.

Abstract

The pathophysiology, immune reaction, and differential vulnerability of different population groups and viral host immune system evasion strategies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are not yet well understood. Here, we reviewed the multitude of known strategies of coronaviruses and other viruses to usurp mitochondria-associated mechanisms involved in the host innate immune response and put them in context with the current knowledge on SARS-CoV-2. We argue that maintenance of mitochondrial integrity is essential for adequate innate immune system responses and to blunt mitochondrial modulation by SARS-CoV-2. Mitochondrial health thus may determine differential vulnerabilities to SARS-CoV-2 infection rendering markers of mitochondrial functions promising potential biomarkers for SARS-CoV-2 infection risk and severity of outcome. Current knowledge gaps on our understanding of mitochondrial involvement in SARS-CoV-2 infection, lifestyle, and pharmacological strategies to improve mitochondrial integrity and potential reciprocal interactions with chronic and age-related diseases, e.g., Parkinson disease, are pointed out.

Keywords: Cell Biology; Immunology; Virology.

Publication types

Review