SARS-CoV-2, a member of the coronavirus family, is the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, there is still an urgent need in developing an efficient therapeutic intervention. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the therapeutic effect of a single intranasal treatment of the TLR3/MDA5 synthetic agonist Poly(I:C) against a lethal dose of SARS-CoV-2 in K18-hACE2 transgenic mice. We demonstrate here that early Poly(I:C) treatment acts synergistically with SARS-CoV-2 to induce an intense, immediate and transient upregulation of innate immunity-related genes in lungs. This effect is accompanied by viral load reduction, lung and brain cytokine storms prevention and increased levels of macrophages and NK cells, resulting in 83% mice survival, concomitantly with long-term immunization. Thus, priming the lung innate immunity by Poly(I:C) or alike may provide an immediate, efficient and safe protective measure against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, innate immune response, TLR3, poly(I:C), hACE2-K18 transgenic mice, 【초록키워드】 Treatment, Macrophage, Cytokine storm, coronavirus, Innate immunity, SARS-COV-2 infection, COVID-19 pandemic, NK cells, lung, immunization, Brain, survival, mice, Lungs, intranasal, Protective, K18-hACE2 transgenic mice, dose, Safe, poly(I:C, therapeutic intervention, upregulation, therapeutic effect, priming, viral load reduction, resulting, induce, accompanied, 【제목키워드】 response, Innate, induction, agonist,