Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemics is a challenge without precedent for the modern science. Acute Respiratory Discomfort Syndrome (ARDS) is the most common immunopathological event in SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV infections. Fast lung deterioration results of cytokine storm determined by a robust immunological response leading to ARDS and multiple organ failure. Here, we show cysteine protease Cathepsin L (CatL) involvement with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19 from different points of view. CatL is a lysosomal enzyme that participates in numerous physiological processes, including apoptosis, antigen processing, and extracellular matrix remodeling. CatL is implicated in pathological conditions like invasion and metastasis of tumors, inflammatory status, atherosclerosis, renal disease, diabetes, bone diseases, viral infection, and other diseases. CatL expression is up-regulated during chronic inflammation and is involved in degrading extracellular matrix, an important process for SARS-CoV-2 to enter host cells. In addition, CatL is probably involved in processing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. As its inhibition is detrimental to SARS-CoV-2 infection and possibly exit from cells during late stages of infection, CatL could have been considered a valuable therapeutic target. Therefore, we describe here some drugs already in the market with potential CatL inhibiting capacity that could be used to treat COVID-19 patients. In addition, we discuss the possible role of host genetics in the etiology and spreading of the disease.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemics is a challenge without precedent for the modern science
In the present paper we show the involvement of Cathepsin L (CatL) in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from different points of view
THE COVID-19 In December 2019, a group of patients with pneumonia of unknown cause was observed in Wuhan, China (Zhu et al, 2020) On December 31, 2019, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) conducted an epidemiologic and etiologic investigation and China's authorities had reported to World Health Organization (WHO) about the disease (Wu and McGoogan, 2020; Zhu et al, 2020)
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemics is a challenge without precedent for the modern science. Uncontrolled systemic inflammation resulting from the release of large amounts of proinflammatory cytokines (IFN-a, IFN-g, IL-1b, IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, IL-33, TNF-a, TGFb, etc) and chemokines (CCL2, CCL3, CCL5, CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10, and others) by the effector immune cells in SARS-CoV infection (Cameron et al, 2008; Williams and Chambers, 2014; Channappanavar and Perlman, 2017; Huang et al, 2020) will cause a violent attack of the immune system on the body, causing ARDS and multiple organ failure, damage to the lungs, kidney and heart, which can lead to death in severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 (Shimabukuro-Vornhagen et al, 2018; Xu et al, 2020). Identifying safe and effective treatment options are urgent requirements (Zhou et al, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
