The consequences of viral infection on host DNA damage response: a focus on SARS-CoVs

Asmaa S Mekawy; Zina Alaswad; Aya A Ibrahim; Ahmed A Mohamed; Abdelrahman AlOkda; Menattallah Elserafy

doi:10.1186/s43141-022-00388-3

The consequences of viral infection on host DNA damage response: a focus on SARS-CoVs

J Genet Eng Biotechnol. 2022 Jul 13;20(1):104. doi: 10.1186/s43141-022-00388-3.

Authors

Asmaa S Mekawy^{1

2}, Zina Alaswad^#^{1

2}, Aya A Ibrahim^#^{1

2}, Ahmed A Mohamed^{1

2}, Abdelrahman AlOkda^{3

4}, Menattallah Elserafy^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Genomics, Helmy Institute for Medical Sciences, Zewail City of Science and Technology, 12578, Giza, Egypt.
² University of Science and Technology, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Giza, 12578, Egypt.
³ Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁴ Metabolic Disorders and Complications Program and Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁵ Center for Genomics, Helmy Institute for Medical Sciences, Zewail City of Science and Technology, 12578, Giza, Egypt. melserafy@zewailcity.edu.eg.
⁶ University of Science and Technology, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Giza, 12578, Egypt. melserafy@zewailcity.edu.eg.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

DNA damage and genome instability in host cells are introduced by many viruses during their life cycles. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoVs) manipulation of DNA damage response (DDR) is an important area of research that is still understudied. Elucidation of the direct and indirect interactions between SARS-CoVs and DDR not only provides important insights into how the viruses exploit DDR pathways in host cells but also contributes to our understanding of their pathogenicity. Here, we present the known interactions of both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 with DDR pathways of the host cells, to further understand the consequences of infection on genome integrity. Since this area of research is in its early stages, we try to connect the unlinked dots to speculate and propose different consequences on DDR mechanisms. This review provides new research scopes that can be further investigated in vitro and in vivo, opening new avenues for the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs.

Keywords: COVID-19; DNA damage response (DDR); DNA repair; Genomic instability; SARS-CoV; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Review