Cell Research, 19 March, 2021, DOI：https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-021-00495-9

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein interacts with and activates TLR41

Yingchi Zhao, Ming Kuang, Junhong Li, Ling Zhu, Zijing Jia, Xuefei Guo, Yaling Hu, Jun Kong, Hang Yin, Xiangxi Wang & Fuping You

Abstract

Accumulating clinical data suggest the main causes of death by COVID-19 include respiratory failure and the onset of sepsis. Importantly, sepsis has been observed in nearly all deceased patients. It remains elusive how SARS-CoV-2 infection results in viral sepsis in humans. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mediates anti-gram-negative bacterial immune responses by recognizing lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from bacteria. We recently found that SARS-CoV-2 infection provoked an anti-bacterial like response at the very early stage of infection via TLR4. However, the identity of the original trigger initiating these abnormal immune responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection is unknown.

Article link：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-021-00495-9