Perspectives and Challenges in the Fight Against COVID-19: The Role of Genetic Variability

Author(s)

Guilger-Casagrande, Mariana ^{[1, 2]} ; de Barros, Cecilia T. ^[2] ; Antunes, Vitoria A. N. ^[2] ; de Araujo, Daniele R. ^[3] ; Lima, Renata ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ Unesp, Inst Sci & Technol, Sorocaba - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sorocaba UNISO, Lab Evaluat Bioact & Toxicol Nanomat, Sorocaba - Brazil

^[3] Fed Univ ABC, Human & Nat Sci Ctr, Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY; v. 11, MAR 15 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 3

Abstract

In the last year, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a new consideration for the multidisciplinary sciences. The unknown mechanisms of infection used by SARS-CoV-2 and the absence of effective antiviral pharmacological therapy, diagnosis methods, and vaccines evoked scientific efforts on the COVID-19 outcome. In general, COVID-19 clinical features are a result of local and systemic inflammatory processes that are enhanced by some preexistent comorbidities, such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, and pulmonary diseases, and biological factors, like gender and age. However, the discrepancies in COVID-19 clinical signs observed among those patients lead to investigations about the critical factors that deeply influence disease severity and death. Herein, we present the viral infection mechanisms and its consequences after blocking the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) axis in different tissues and the progression of inflammatory and immunological reactions, especially the influence of genetic features on those differential clinical responses. Furthermore, we discuss the role of genotype as an essential indicator of COVID-19 susceptibility, considering the expression profiles, polymorphisms, gene identification, and epigenetic modifications of viral entry factors and their recognition, as well as the infection effects on cell signaling molecule expression, which amplifies disease severity. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/13328-5 - Development and evaluation of biogenic metal nanoparticles (silver, titanium and iron) based on Trichoderma harzianum for agricultural application
• Grantee: Renata de Lima
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 20/05816-2 - Study of the capping of biogenic nanoparticles and their correlation with toxicity and activity in the control of phytopathogens
• Grantee: Mariana Guilger Casagrande
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 19/20303-4 - Thermosensitive organogels as strategies for the treatment of inflammatory processes: from supramolecular structure to pharmacological evaluation
• Grantee: Daniele Ribeiro de Araujo
• Support type: Regular Research Grants