Calcium Ions Signaling: Targets for Attack and Utilization by Viruses

Yang Qu; Yingjie Sun; Zengqi Yang; Chan Ding

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.889374

Calcium Ions Signaling: Targets for Attack and Utilization by Viruses

Front Microbiol. 2022 Jul 4:13:889374. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.889374. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yang Qu^{1

2}, Yingjie Sun², Zengqi Yang¹, Chan Ding^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
² Department of Avian Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China.
³ Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Calcium, as a second intracellular messenger, participate in various physiological and biochemical processes, including cell growth and proliferation, energy metabolism, information transfer, cell death, and immune response. Ca²⁺ channels or pumps in plasma and organelle membranes and Ca²⁺-related proteins maintain Ca²⁺ homeostasis by regulating Ca²⁺ inflow, outflow and buffering to avoid any adverse effects caused by Ca²⁺ overload or depletion. Thus, Ca²⁺ signaling also provides a target for virus invasion, replication, proliferation and release. After hijacking the host cell, viruses exploit Ca²⁺ signaling to regulate apoptosis and resist host immunity to establish persistent infection. In this review, we discuss cellular Ca²⁺ signaling and channels, interaction of calcium-associated proteins with viruses, and host cell fate, as well as the role of Ca²⁺ in cell death and antiviral response during viral infection.

Keywords: antiviral responses; calcium channels; calcium homeostasis; calcium pumps; cell death; innate immune; virus.

Publication types

Review