Shoraka Shahrzad, Mohebbi Seyed Reza, Hosseini Seyed Masoud, Moradi Asma, Shahrokh Shabnam, Sadeghi Amir, Zali Mohammad Reza
Department of Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, P.O.BOX: 1983969411, Tehran, Iran.
Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, P.O.BOX: 1985717411, Tehran, Iran.
Curr Microbiol. 2025 May 30;82(7):317. doi: 10.1007/s00284-025-04296-w.
Mitochondrial quality control is carried out through mechanisms such as mitochondrial biogenesis, dynamics, and mitophagy. Recent studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 can directly modulate mitochondrial biogenesis. Nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1) is an important mediator of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. A key role of NRF-1 in innate antiviral immunity and a link between innate immunity and mitochondrial quality control has been suggested. This study aims to investigate the NRF-1 levels in COVID-19 patients and compare between asymptomatic and symptomatic cases. Also, the diagnostic values of NRF-1 in SARS-CoV-2 infection have been evaluated based on disease severity subgroups. Buffy coat samples were collected from 37 COVID-19 patients and 33 healthy individuals. The patient group was divided into the following subgroups: asymptomatic (n = 17), mild/moderate (n = 12), and severe (n = 8) based on clinical and laboratory parameters. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, real-time PCR was used to determine relative expression levels of NRF-1. Our results showed that the NRF-1 levels were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients than in healthy individuals. Also, NRF-1 levels were increased in symptomatic, mild/moderate, and severe cases compared to asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. In addition, the results of ROC curve analysis showed that the level of NRF-1 has high discriminative power to differentiate between COVID-19 severity subgroups. NRF-1 mRNA levels are a promising biomarker for the COVID-19 severity. Further understanding of the role of NRF-1 and mitochondrial quality control in disease severity, and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection may help in COVID-19 managements.
线粒体质量控制通过线粒体生物发生、动力学和线粒体自噬等机制来实现。最近的研究表明，严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）可直接调节线粒体生物发生。核呼吸因子1（NRF-1）是参与线粒体生物发生的基因的重要调节因子。有人提出NRF-1在先天性抗病毒免疫中起关键作用，以及先天性免疫与线粒体质量控制之间存在联系。本研究旨在调查新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）患者的NRF-1水平，并比较无症状和有症状病例。此外，还根据疾病严重程度亚组评估了NRF-1在SARS-CoV-2感染中的诊断价值。从37例COVID-19患者和33名健康个体中采集了血沉棕黄层样本。根据临床和实验室参数，将患者组分为以下亚组：无症状（n = 17）、轻/中度（n = 12）和重度（n = 8）。在进行RNA提取和cDNA合成后，采用实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）来测定NRF-1的相对表达水平。我们的结果显示，COVID-19患者的NRF-1水平显著高于健康个体。此外，与无症状COVID-19患者相比，有症状、轻/中度和重度病例的NRF-1水平均有所升高。此外，受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线分析结果表明，NRF-1水平对区分COVID-19严重程度亚组具有较高的鉴别能力。NRF-1信使核糖核酸（mRNA）水平是预测COVID-19严重程度的一个有前景的生物标志物。进一步了解NRF-1和线粒体质量控制在疾病严重程度以及SARS-CoV-2感染结局中的作用，可能有助于COVID-19的管理。
