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Review
. 2025 Mar 27;89(1):e0001623.
doi: 10.1128/mmbr.00016-23. Epub 2024 Dec 19.

Human coronaviruses: activation and antagonism of innate immune responses

Nikhila S Tanneti #  1 , Helen A Stillwell #  1 , Susan R Weiss  1
Affiliations
Review

Human coronaviruses: activation and antagonism of innate immune responses

Nikhila S Tanneti et al. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. .

Abstract

SUMMARYHuman coronaviruses cause a range of respiratory diseases, from the common cold (HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43, and SARS-CoV-2) to lethal pneumonia (SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV). Coronavirus interactions with host innate immune antiviral responses are an important determinant of disease outcome. This review compares the host's innate response to different human coronaviruses. Host antiviral defenses discussed in this review include frontline defenses against respiratory viruses in the nasal epithelium, early sensing of viral infection by innate immune effectors, double-stranded RNA and stress-induced antiviral pathways, and viral antagonism of innate immune responses conferred by conserved coronavirus nonstructural proteins and genus-specific accessory proteins. The common cold coronaviruses HCoV-229E and -NL63 induce robust interferon signaling and related innate immune pathways, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 induce intermediate levels of activation, and MERS-CoV shuts down these pathways almost completely.

Keywords: IFN signaling; OAS-RNase L; PKR; coronavirus; innate immune response.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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