| Title | Apoptosis Enhances the Replication of Human Coronavirus OC43. | ||
| Author | Maharjan, Sony; Kang, Mijeong; Kim, Jinsoo; Kim, Dongbum; Park, Sangkyu; Kim, Minyoung; Baek, Kyeongbin; Lee, Younghee; Kwon, Hyung-Joo | ||
| Journal | Viruses | Publication Year/Month | 2021-Nov |
| PMID | 34835005 | PMCID | PMC8619903 |
| Affiliation + expend | 1.Institute of Medical Science, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon 24252, Korea. | ||
Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is one of the coronaviruses causing a mild common cold, but few studies have been made on this strain. Here, we identified the molecular mechanisms involved in HCoV-OC43-induced apoptosis and its implications for viral reproduction in Vero cells and MRC-5 cells. HCoV-OC43 infection induced apoptosis that was accompanied by cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP, degradation of cyclin D1, and cell cycle arrest at S and G2M phases. Dephosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3, induced by HCoV-OC43 infection, was also associated with HCoV-OC43-mediated apoptosis. The pan-caspase inhibitor effectively prevented HCoV-OC43-induced apoptosis and reduced viral replication, suggesting that apoptosis contributes to viral replication. Collectively our results indicate that HCoV-OC43 induces caspase-dependent apoptosis to promote viral replication in Vero cells and MRC-5 cells.