ORF8 contributes to cytokine storm during SARS-CoV-2 infection by activating IL-17 pathway

• Main Authors: Xiaoyuan Lin, Beibei Fu, Songna Yin, Zhifeng Li, Huawen Liu, Haiwei Zhang, Na Xing, Yu Wang, Weiwei Xue, Yan Xiong, Shanfu Zhang, Qingting Zhao, Shiyao Xu, Jing Zhang, Peihui Wang, Weiqi Nian, Xingsheng Wang, Haibo Wu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-04-01
• Series: iScience
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Microbiology; Virology
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004221002613

Summary: Recently, COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has brought great challenges to the world. More and more studies have shown that patients with severe COVID-19 may suffer from cytokine storm syndrome; however, there are few studies on its pathogenesis. Here we demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 coding protein open reading frame 8 (ORF8) acted as a contributing factor to cytokine storm during COVID-19 infection. ORF8 could activate IL-17 signaling pathway and promote the expression of pro-inflammatory factors. Moreover, we demonstrated that treatment of IL17RA antibody protected mice from ORF8-induced inflammation. Our findings are helpful to understand the pathogenesis of cytokine storm caused by SARS-CoV-2 and provide a potential target for the development of COVID-19 therapeutic drugs.