The Role of Type I Interferons in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of COVID-19.
Front Immunol
; 11: 595739, 2020.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-886172
ABSTRACT
Type I interferons (IFN-I) were first discovered over 60 years ago in a classical experiment by Isaacs and Lindenman, who showed that IFN-Is possess antiviral activity. Later, it became one of the first approved protein drugs using heterologous protein expression systems, which allowed its large-scale production. It has been approved, and widely used in a pleiotropy of diseases, including multiple-sclerosis, hepatitis B and C, and some forms of cancer. Preliminary clinical data has supported its effectiveness against potential pandemic pathogens such as Ebola and SARS. Still, more efficient and specific drugs have taken its place in treating such diseases. The COVID-19 global pandemic has again lifted the status of IFN-Is to become one of the more promising drug candidates, with initial clinical trials showing promising results in reducing the severity and duration of the disease. Although SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the production of IFNß and thus obstructs the innate immune response to this virus, it is sensitive to the antiviral activity of externally administrated IFN-Is. In this review I discuss the diverse modes of biological actions of IFN-Is and how these are related to biophysical parameters of IFN-I-receptor interaction and cell-type specificity in light of the large variety of binding affinities of the different IFN-I subtypes towards the common interferon receptor. Furthermore, I discuss how these may guide the optimized use IFN-Is in combatting COVID-19.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Antiviral Agents
/
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Interferon Type I
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Betacoronavirus
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Immunol
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fimmu.2020.595739
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS