The epigenetic implication in coronavirus infection and therapy
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REVIEW
The epigenetic implication in coronavirus infection and therapy Sandra Atlante1, Alessia Mongelli1, Veronica Barbi1, Fabio Martelli2, Antonella Farsetti3* and Carlo Gaetano1*
Abstract Epigenetics is a relatively new field of science that studies the genetic and non-genetic aspects related to heritable phenotypic changes, frequently caused by environmental and metabolic factors. In the host, the epigenetic machinery can regulate gene expression through a series of reversible epigenetic modifications, such as histone methylation and acetylation, DNA/RNA methylation, chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNAs. The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in Wuhan, China, and spread worldwide, causes it. COVID-19 severity and consequences largely depend on patient age and health status. In this review, we will summarize and comparatively analyze how viruses regulate the host epigenome. Mainly, we will be focusing on highly pathogenic respiratory RNA virus infections such as coronaviruses. In this context, epigenetic alterations might play an essential role in the onset of coronavirus disease complications. Although many therapeutic approaches are under study, more research is urgently needed to identify effective vaccine or safer chemotherapeutic drugs, including epigenetic drugs, to cope with this viral outbreak and to develop pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis against COVID-19. Keywords: Coronaviruses, Epigenetics, Nucleic acids, Aging, Metabolism, Chronic disease Introduction The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is a severe new disease that emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 [1]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the SARSCoV-2/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic as a public health emergency of international concern [2]. The WHO reported that, until this manuscript submission on September 26, 2020, there had been 32,344,734 confirmed cases and 984,902 deaths worldwide [3]. Zhou and coworkers identified this novel coronavirus using next-generation sequencing of nucleic acids in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluids of diseased patients [1]. *Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] 1 Laboratorio di Epigenetica, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Maugeri 4, 27100 Pavia, Italy 3 Institute for Systems Analysis and Computer Science “A. Ruberti” (IASI), National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
The name SARS-CoV-2 was assigned since its RNA virus genome is closely related to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV, which emerged in human species in 2003–2004, and the infection is associated with a SARS-like disease [4, 5]. The cross-species transmission of SARS-related CoVs, causing virulent pandemic infections, represents a significant threat to the human population. This episode is the t
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