The DNA glycosylase NEIL2 plays a vital role in combating SARS-CoV-2 infection.

ABSTRACT: Compromised DNA repair capacity of individuals could play a critical role in the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced COVID-19. We therefore analyzed the expression of DNA repair genes in publicly available transcriptomic datasets of COVID-19 patients and found that the level of NEIL2, an oxidized base specific mammalian DNA glycosylase, is particularly low in the lungs of COVID-19 patients displaying severe symptoms. Downregulation of pulmonary NEIL2 in CoV-2-permissive animals and postmortem COVID-19 patients validated these results. To investigate the potential roles of NEIL2 in CoV-2 pathogenesis, we infected Neil2-null (Neil2^-/-) mice with a mouse-adapted CoV-2 strain and found that Neil2^-/- mice suffered more severe viral infection conco

SUBMITTER: Hazra T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9164514 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature