Department of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Institute of Basic Theory for Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
Cells. 2024 Aug 14;13(16):1353. doi: 10.3390/cells13161353.
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a class of respiratory viruses with the potential to cause severe respiratory diseases by infecting cells of the upper respiratory tract, bronchial epithelium, and lung. The airway cilia are distributed on the surface of respiratory epithelial cells, forming the first point of contact between the host and the inhaled coronaviruses. The function of the airway cilia is to oscillate and sense, thereby defending against and removing pathogens to maintain the cleanliness and patency of the respiratory tract. Following infection of the respiratory tract, coronaviruses exploit the cilia to invade and replicate in epithelial cells while also damaging the cilia to facilitate the spread and exacerbation of respiratory diseases. It is therefore imperative to investigate the interactions between coronaviruses and respiratory cilia, as well as to elucidate the functional mechanism of respiratory cilia following coronavirus invasion, in order to develop effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of respiratory viral infections. This review commences with an overview of the fundamental characteristics of airway cilia, and then, based on the interplay between airway cilia and coronavirus infection, we propose that ciliary protection and restoration may represent potential therapeutic approaches in emerging and re-emerging coronavirus pandemics.
冠状病毒（CoVs）是一类呼吸道病毒，通过感染上呼吸道、支气管上皮和肺部的细胞，有引发严重呼吸道疾病的潜力。气道纤毛分布在呼吸道上皮细胞的表面，形成宿主与吸入的冠状病毒的第一个接触点。气道纤毛的功能是振荡和感知，从而抵御和清除病原体，以保持呼吸道的清洁和通畅。呼吸道感染后，冠状病毒利用纤毛侵入并在上皮细胞中复制，同时也损害纤毛，以促进呼吸道疾病的传播和恶化。因此，研究冠状病毒与呼吸道纤毛之间的相互作用，以及阐明冠状病毒入侵后呼吸道纤毛的功能机制，对于制定预防和治疗呼吸道病毒感染的有效策略至关重要。本综述首先概述了气道纤毛的基本特征，然后基于气道纤毛与冠状病毒感染的相互作用，提出纤毛保护和修复可能是新兴和再现的冠状病毒大流行的潜在治疗方法。
