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SARS-CoV-2 infection and the antiviral innate immune response
Hui Yang1,4,†,* , Yingying Lyu1,4,† , Fajian Hou2,3,*
1Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
2State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
3School of Life Science, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, China
4Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
*Correspondence to:Hui Yang , Email:hui_yang@fudan.edu.cn Fajian Hou , Email:fhou@sibcb.ac.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 12, Issue 12, December 2020, 963-967,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjaa071

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak began in December 2019, causing the illness known as the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The virus spread rapidly worldwide to become a global public health emergency. As of November 15, 2020, more than 53 million confirmed cases and over 1 million deaths worldwide have been reported (World Health Organization, 2020). The SARS-CoV-2 genome was sequenced and studies are ongoing to further understand the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, etiological structure, cellular receptor angiotensin II converting enzyme (ACE2), and intracellular replication process of the virus. Currently, thousands of clinical trials related to SARS-CoV-2 are underway (https://clinicaltrials.gov/). However, no vaccines or drugs have yet been approved, until very recently, for direct treatment or prevention of COVID-19 and only supportive treatment has been applied clinically. This review will discuss the possible mechanism of the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and provide insight into the development of related therapeutics.


Volume 12, Issue 12
December 2020