Interaction of SARS and MERS Coronaviruses with the Antiviral Interferon Response

E Kindler; V Thiel; F Weber

doi:10.1016/bs.aivir.2016.08.006

Interaction of SARS and MERS Coronaviruses with the Antiviral Interferon Response

Adv Virus Res. 2016:96:219-243. doi: 10.1016/bs.aivir.2016.08.006. Epub 2016 Sep 9.

Authors

E Kindler¹, V Thiel¹, F Weber²

Affiliations

¹ University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Institute of Virology and Immunology, Bern and Mittelhäusern, Switzerland.
² Institute of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany. Electronic address: friedemann.weber@vetmed.uni-giessen.de.

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are the most severe coronavirus (CoV)-associated diseases in humans. The causative agents, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, are of zoonotic origin but may be transmitted to humans, causing severe and often fatal respiratory disease in their new host. The two coronaviruses are thought to encode an unusually large number of factors that allow them to thrive and replicate in the presence of efficient host defense mechanisms, especially the antiviral interferon system. Here, we review the recent progress in our understanding of the strategies that highly pathogenic coronaviruses employ to escape, dampen, or block the antiviral interferon response in human cells.

Keywords: Interferon; MDA5; MERS-CoV; PKR; RIG-I-like receptors; SARS-CoV; Viral countermeasures.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Coronavirus Infections / immunology
Coronavirus Infections / pathology
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
Immune Evasion*
Immunity, Innate
Interferon-alpha / genetics*
Interferon-alpha / immunology
Interferon-beta / genetics*
Interferon-beta / immunology
Interferon-gamma / genetics*
Interferon-gamma / immunology
Janus Kinase 1 / genetics
Janus Kinase 1 / immunology
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / genetics*
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / immunology
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / pathogenicity
RNA, Double-Stranded / genetics
RNA, Double-Stranded / immunology
RNA, Viral / genetics
RNA, Viral / immunology
STAT Transcription Factors / genetics
STAT Transcription Factors / immunology
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / immunology
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / pathology
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / virology
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / genetics*
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / immunology
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / pathogenicity
Signal Transduction
Viral Proteins / genetics
Viral Proteins / immunology

Substances

Interferon-alpha
RNA, Double-Stranded
RNA, Viral
STAT Transcription Factors
Viral Proteins
Interferon-beta
Interferon-gamma
JAK1 protein, human
Janus Kinase 1