A global effort to dissect the human genetic basis of resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection

• Authors: ANDREAKOS Evangelos; ABEL Laurent; VINH Donald C; KAJA Elzbieta; DROLET Beth A; ZHANG Qian; FARRELLY Cliona; NOVELLI Giuseppe; RODRIGUEZ-GALLEGO Carlos; HAERYNCK Filomeen; PRANDO Carolina; PUJOL Aurora; SU Helen C; CASANOVA Jean-Laurent; SPAAN Andras N; BASTARD Paul; BIGGS Catherine M; BIGIO Benedetta; BOISSON Bertrand; BOLZE Alexandre; BONDARENKO Anastasiia; BRODIN Petter; CHAKRAVORTY Samya; CHRISTODOULOU John; COBAT Aurelie; CONDINO-NETO Antonio; CONSTANTINESCU Stefan N; FELDMAN Hagit Baris; FELLAY Jacques; HALWANI Rabih; JOUANGUY Emmanuelle; LAU Yu-Lung; MEYTS Isabelle; MOGENSEN Trine H; OKADA Satoshi; OKAMOTO Keisuke; OZCELIK Tayfun; PAN-HAMMARSTROM Qiang; PLANAS Anna M; PUEL Anne; QUINTANA-MURCI Lluis; RENIA Laurent; RESNICK Igor; SEDIVA Anna; SHCHERBINA Anna; SLABÝ Ondřej; TANCEVSKI Ivan; TURVEY Stuart E; UDDIN K M Furkan; DIEDERIK van de Beek; ZATZ Mayana; ZAWADZKI Pawel; ZHANG Shen-Ying
• Year of publication: 2022
• Type: Article in Periodical
• Magazine / Source: Nature immunology
• MU Faculty or unit: Central European Institute of Technology
• Web: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-01030-z
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41590-021-01030-z
• Keywords: Animals; COVID-19; Disease Resistance; Genetic Heterogeneity; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Phenotype; Protective Factors; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2
• Description: SARS-CoV-2 infections display tremendous interindividual variability, ranging from asymptomatic infections to life-threatening disease. Inborn errors of, and autoantibodies directed against, type I interferons (IFNs) account for about 20% of critical COVID-19 cases among SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. By contrast, the genetic and immunological determinants of resistance to infection per se remain unknown. Following the discovery that autosomal recessive deficiency in the DARC chemokine receptor confers resistance to Plasmodium vivax, autosomal recessive deficiencies of chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) and the enzyme FUT2 were shown to underlie resistance to HIV-1 and noroviruses, respectively. Along the same lines, we propose a strategy for identifying, recruiting, and genetically analyzing individuals who are naturally resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infection.