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Underpinning the Rudimentary/Underlying Mechanisms Involved in the Pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in Human Lung Cells

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Targeting Cellular Signalling Pathways in Lung Diseases

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is presently the major threat to human society and health due to its high infectivity and mortality rates. To date, this pandemic has resulted in more than 1.5 million deaths globally, affecting more than 200 countries. Phylogenetic analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome revealed its striking homology with the bat-derived coronavirus strains, thus confirming the zoonotic origin of the virus. SARS-CoV-2 binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors expressed on the surface of the host cells, leading to endocytosis of the receptor, followed by the replication of the viral RNA, packaging, assembly, and release of the progeny viruses. This leads to the systemic infection in the host body and the shredding of the virus, causing its transmission to a new host. The extent of infection in the host cells depends on the expression of ACE2 expression and hyperactivation of the immune system to generate a cocktail of inflammatory cytokines, also referred to as the cytokine storm. This inflammatory response can cause severe damage to the lung tissues.

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Author notes

  1. Arnab Ghosh, Chandrika Bhattacharyya and Amlan Das contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, India

    Arnab Ghosh, Chandrika Bhattacharyya, Nidhan K. Biswas & Amlan Das

Authors
  1. Arnab Ghosh
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  2. Chandrika Bhattacharyya
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  3. Nidhan K. Biswas
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  4. Amlan Das
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amlan Das .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Health, Discipline of Pharmacy, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Kamal Dua

  2. Drug Development and Innovation Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Raimar Löbenberg

  3. Haematology and Hemotherapy Center, State University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Ângela Cristina Malheiros Luzo

  4. Graduate School of Health, Discipline of Pharmacy, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Shakti Shukla

  5. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Division of Research & Development, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India

    Saurabh Satija

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Ghosh, A., Bhattacharyya, C., Biswas, N.K., Das, A. (2021). Underpinning the Rudimentary/Underlying Mechanisms Involved in the Pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in Human Lung Cells. In: Dua, K., Löbenberg, R., Malheiros Luzo, Â.C., Shukla, S., Satija, S. (eds) Targeting Cellular Signalling Pathways in Lung Diseases. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6827-9_25

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