A genome-wide CRISPR screen identifies interactors of the autophagy pathway as conserved coronavirus targets

PLoS Biol. 2021 Dec 28;19(12):e3001490. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001490. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, 3 highly pathogenic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have emerged-Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and, most recently, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-demonstrating that coronaviruses (CoVs) pose a serious threat to human health and highlighting the importance of developing effective therapies against them. Similar to other viruses, CoVs are dependent on host factors for their survival and replication. We hypothesized that evolutionarily distinct CoVs may exploit similar host factors and pathways to support their replication cycles. Herein, we conducted 2 independent genome-wide CRISPR/Cas-9 knockout (KO) screens to identify MERS-CoV and HCoV-229E host dependency factors (HDFs) required for HCoV replication in the human Huh7 cell line. Top scoring genes were further validated and assessed in the context of MERS-CoV and HCoV-229E infection as well as SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Strikingly, we found that several autophagy-related genes, including TMEM41B, MINAR1, and the immunophilin FKBP8, were common host factors required for pan-CoV replication. Importantly, inhibition of the immunophilin protein family with the compounds cyclosporine A, and the nonimmunosuppressive derivative alisporivir, resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of CoV replication in primary human nasal epithelial cell cultures, which recapitulate the natural site of virus replication. Overall, we identified host factors that are crucial for CoV replication and demonstrated that these factors constitute potential targets for therapeutic intervention by clinically approved drugs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology
  • Autophagy / genetics*
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • Humans
  • Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / drug effects
  • Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / genetics*
  • Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / physiology
  • SARS-CoV-2 / drug effects
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics*
  • SARS-CoV-2 / physiology
  • Virus Replication

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant number 165076 and 173085, VT). In addition this study was funded by the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie "COV RESTRICT" grant agreement (grant number 748627, SP) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (RAPID grant number 01KI1723A, VT). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.