1
|
Wang Z, Li S, Huang B. Alveolar macrophages: Achilles' heel of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2022; 7:242. [PMID: 35853858 PMCID: PMC9295089 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-022-01106-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused more than 6.3 million deaths to date. Despite great efforts to curb the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), vaccines and neutralizing antibodies are in the gloom due to persistent viral mutations and antiviral compounds face challenges of specificity and safety. In addition, vaccines are unable to treat already-infected individuals, and antiviral drugs cannot be used prophylactically. Therefore, exploration of unconventional strategies to curb the current pandemic is highly urgent. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) residing on the surface of alveoli are the first immune cells that dispose of alveoli-invading viruses. Our findings demonstrate that M1 AMs have an acidic endosomal pH, thus favoring SARS-CoV-2 to leave endosomes and release into the cytosol where the virus initiates replication; in contrast, M2 AMs have an increased endosomal pH, which dampens the viral escape and facilitates delivery of the virus for lysosomal degradation. In this review, we propose that AMs are the Achilles’ heel of SARS-CoV-2 infection and that modulation of the endosomal pH of AMs has the potential to eliminate invaded SARS-CoV-2; the same strategy might also be suitable for other lethal respiratory viruses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhenfeng Wang
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China
| | - Shunshun Li
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine College, China Medical University, 110122, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Bo Huang
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China. .,Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, 430030, Wuhan, China.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wang Z, Zhou Y, Bao L, Li D, Lv J, Wang D, Li S, Liu J, Qin C, Tong WM, Huang B. Airway administration of bisphosphate and dexamethasone inhibits SARS-CoV-2 variant infection by targeting alveolar macrophages. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2022; 7:116. [PMID: 35387969 PMCID: PMC8984664 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-022-00977-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Zhenfeng Wang
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China
| | - Yabo Zhou
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China
| | - Linlin Bao
- NHC Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Models of Emerging and Remerging Infectious Diseases, Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, CAMS and Comparative Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Dan Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Models of Emerging and Remerging Infectious Diseases, Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, CAMS and Comparative Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Jiadi Lv
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China
| | - Dianheng Wang
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China
| | - Shunshun Li
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China
| | - Jiangning Liu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Models of Emerging and Remerging Infectious Diseases, Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, CAMS and Comparative Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Chuan Qin
- NHC Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Models of Emerging and Remerging Infectious Diseases, Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, CAMS and Comparative Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
| | - Wei-Min Tong
- Department of Pathology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, CAMS and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
| | - Bo Huang
- Department of Immunology & National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Peking Union Medical College, 100005, Beijing, China. .,Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, 430030, Wuhan, China.
| |
Collapse
|