INF B role in stopping cytokine inflammation4 Sep 2021 08:58
This is another significant finding showing how INF B can stop cytokine storm.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected pa- tients with comorbidities, namely, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Macrophages (Mfs) are a key innate immune cell primarily responsible for the harmful, hyperinflammatory “cytokine storm” in patients that develop severe COVID-19. We describe a mechanism for this Mf-mediated cytokine storm in response to coronavirus. In response to coronavirus infection, expression of the chromatin-modifying enzyme, SETDB2, decreases in Mfs, leading to increased transcription of inflammatory cytokines. Further, we find SETDB2 is regulated by an interferon beta (IFNß)/JaK/STAT3 mechanism, and that exogenous administration of IFNß can reverse inflammation, particularly in diabetic Mfs via an increase in SETDB2. Together, these results suggest therapeutic targeting of the IFNß/SETDB2 axis in diabetic patients with COVID-19 may decrease pathologic inflammation.
https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/118/38/e2101071118.full.pdf