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Review
. 2022 Jan 17;11(2):306.
doi: 10.3390/cells11020306.

Janus Kinase Signaling Pathway and Its Role in COVID-19 Inflammatory, Vascular, and Thrombotic Manifestations

Jonathan D Ravid  1 , Orly Leiva  2 , Vipul C Chitalia  3   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Janus Kinase Signaling Pathway and Its Role in COVID-19 Inflammatory, Vascular, and Thrombotic Manifestations

Jonathan D Ravid et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection continues to be a worldwide public health crisis. Among the several severe manifestations of this disease, thrombotic processes drive the catastrophic organ failure and mortality in these patients. In addition to a well-established cytokine storm associated with the disease, perturbations in platelets, endothelial cells, and the coagulation system are key in triggering systemic coagulopathy, involving both the macro- and microvasculatures of different organs. Of the several mechanisms that might contribute to dysregulation of these cells following SARS-CoV-2 infection, the current review focuses on the role of activated Janus kinase (JAK) signaling in augmenting thrombotic processes and organ dysfunction. The review concludes with presenting the current understanding and emerging controversies concerning the potential therapeutic applications of JAK inhibitors for ameliorating the inflammation-thrombosis phenotype in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Janus kinase signaling; SARS-CoV-2; inflammation; thrombosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic illustration of SARS-CoV-2-induced JAK–STAT activation and thrombosis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
JAK–STAT inhibitors. Ruxolitonib and baricitinib inhibit JAK1/JAK2 while tofacitinib inhibits JAK1/JAK3. This event, in turn, suppresses the phosphorylation of STAT proteins and reduces their nuclear translocation. This phenomenon downregulates the inflammatory genes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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