Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the latest variant in the coronavirus family, causing COVID-19, has resulted in global pandemic since early 2020 leading to severe public health concern. So far, the pandemic has caused more than 200 million infections and 4 million deaths worldwide. Most of the studies are focused on developing prevention, intervention, and therapeutic strategies. However, underlying pathophysiology of the disease is important as well, which needs further attention. Cell death is one of the major causative mechanisms that leads to severe inflammation, and it is also an a posteriori consequence of the hyperinflammatory storm that renders poor prognosis of the disease. Substantial cell death has been reported in biopsy samples from post mortem patients. Among the distinct cell death pathways, apoptosis, the regulated programmed cell death plays an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Understanding the role of SARS-CoV-2 infection in apoptosis is critical to linearize the pathogenesis of the virus as well as the resultant disease, that may uncover novel therapeutic targets in treatment of COVID-19 patients. Here, we review the current progress on the underlying molecular mechanism(s) of SARS-CoV-2-induced apoptosis, not only at the level of the virus but also at its individual proteins.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has led to a global pandemic resulting in over 200 million infections and 4.6 million deaths far
HKU1, NL63, OC43, and 229E cause mild symptoms, whereas SARSCoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 are highly transmissible that can lead to severe diseases and death [3]
In this review we have summarized the latest understanding about SARS-CoV-2 induced apoptosis (Figure 1)
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has led to a global pandemic resulting in over 200 million infections and 4.6 million deaths far There are 28 confirmed proteins encoded by the SARS-CoV-2 genome, with polyproteins. The accessory ORF proteins are responsible for countering the host defense and immunity to facilitate viral infection [4]. Understanding the role of SARS-CoV-2 as well as its individual encoded proteins in cell death is a crucial aspect for better comprehending the pathogenesis of the disease. Cell death has multiple mechanistic classifications, with apoptosis, necrosis, and pyroptosis being the three important ones in anti-viral response [5]. SARS-CoV-2 plays in apoptosis of host cells
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