Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan 2;13(1):258.
doi: 10.3390/jcm13010258.

Association of KIR Genes with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection in South Koreans

In-Cheol Baek  1 , Eun-Jeong Choi  1 , Hyoung-Jae Kim  1 , Haeyoun Choi  1   2 , Hyoung-Shik Shin  3 , Dong-Gyun Lim  4 , Tai-Gyu Kim  1   2
Affiliations

Association of KIR Genes with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection in South Koreans

In-Cheol Baek et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a lower respiratory tract disease caused by a beta coronavirus (CoV) called MERS-CoV, characterized by a high mortality rate. We aimed to evaluate the association between genetic variation in killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and the risk of MERS in South Koreans.

Methods: KIR genes were genotyped by multiplex polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). A case-control study was performed to identify the odds ratios (OR) of KIR genes for MERS and the association of KIR genes and their ligands, human leukocyte antigens (HLA) genes.

Results: KIR2DS4D and KIR3DP1F showed higher frequencies in the group of all patients infected with MERS-CoV than in the control group (p = 0.023, OR = 2.4; p = 0.039, OR = 2.7). KIR2DL1, KIR2DP1, and KIR3DP1D were significantly associated with moderate/mild (Mo/Mi) cases. KIR2DL2, KIR2DS1, and KIR3DP1F were affected in severe cases. When we investigated the association between KIR genes and their ligands in MERS patient and control groups, KIR3DL1+/Bw4(80I)+, KIR3DL1+/Bw6+, KIR3DL1+/Bw6-, KIR2DS1+/C2+, and KIR3DS+/Bw4(80I)+ were associated with MERS. KIR3DL1+/Bw6- was found in Mo/Mi cases. KIR2DS1+/C2+ and KIR2DS2+/C1+ were found in severe cases.

Conclusion: Further investigations are needed to prove the various immune responses of MERS-CoV-infected cells according to variations in the KIR gene and ligand gene. A treatment strategy based on current research on the KIR gene and MERS-CoV will suggest potential treatment targets.

Keywords: HLA; KIR; Koreans; MERS; immunogenetics; polymorphism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Risk effects of MERS stages against KIR clusters. OR, odd ratio; OR > 1.0, risk effect; OR < 1.0, protective effect.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk effects of MERS stages against NK-target cell interactions. OR, odd ratio; OR > 1.0, risk effect; OR < 1.0, protective effect; Mo/Mi, moderate and mild; −, inhibitory KIRs; +, activating KIRs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lu G., Hu Y., Wang Q., Qi J., Gao F., Li Y., Zhang Y., Zhang W., Yuan Y., Bao J., et al. Molecular basis of binding between novel human coronavirus MERS-CoV and its receptor CD26. Nature. 2013;500:227–231. doi: 10.1038/nature12328. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pallesen J., Wang N., Corbett K.S., Wrapp D., Kirchdoerfer R.N., Turner H.L., Cottrell C.A., Becker M.M., Wang L., Shi W., et al. Immunogenicity and structures of a rationally designed prefusion MERS-CoV spike antigen. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2017;114:E7348–E7357. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1707304114. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zaki A.M., van Boheemen S., Bestebroer T.M., Osterhaus A.D., Fouchier R.A. Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. N. Engl. J. Med. 2012;367:1814–1820. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1211721. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sikkema R.S., Farag E., Islam M., Atta M., Reusken C., Al-Hajri M.M., Koopmans M.P.G. Global status of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in dromedary camels: A systematic review. Epidemiol. Infect. 2019;147:e84. doi: 10.1017/S095026881800345X. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cowling B.J., Park M., Fang V.J., Wu P., Leung G.M., Wu J.T. Preliminary epidemiological assessment of MERS-CoV outbreak in South Korea, May to June 2015. Euro Surveill. Eur. Commun. Dis. Bull. 2015;20:7–13. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES2015.20.25.21163. - DOI - PMC - PubMed