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Review
. 2022 Mar 1;37(2):88-100.
doi: 10.1152/physiol.00033.2021. Epub 2021 Oct 26.

Mechanisms of Lung Injury Induced by SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Samsara Upadhya  1 , Jalees Rehman  2   3 , Asrar B Malik  2 , Shuibing Chen  1
Affiliations
Review

Mechanisms of Lung Injury Induced by SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Samsara Upadhya et al. Physiology (Bethesda). .

Abstract

The lung is the major target organ of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which causes COVID-19. Here, we outline the multistep mechanisms of lung epithelial and endothelial injury induced by SARS-CoV-2: direct viral infection, chemokine/cytokine-mediated damage, and immune cell-mediated lung injury. Finally, we discuss the recent progress in terms of antiviral therapeutics as well as the development of anti-inflammatory or immunomodulatory therapeutic approaches. This review also provides a systematic overview of the models for studying SARS-CoV-2 infection and discusses how an understanding of mechanisms of lung injury will help identify potential targets for future drug development to mitigate lung injury.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; lung injury; lung organoid; therapeutics.

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Conflict of interest statement

S.C. is the cofounder of Oncobeat LLC. A.B.M and J.R. are co-inventors on a patent submitted to use decoy peptides targeting coronaviruses.

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Comparison of different models for COVID-19 studies
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2.
Potential mechanisms of lung damage in COVID-19 patients IFNs, interferons; AT2, alveolar epithelial type 2.
FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 3.
Food and Drug Administration-approved or Emergency Use Authorization treatment for COVID-19 patients IL-6R, interleukin-6 receptor; GM-CSF, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor; ACE2, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; TNFSF14, tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 14; NRP1, neuropilin-1; RdRp, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase; ERGIC, endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment; nsps, nonstructural proteins.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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