Huang JJ, Wang CW, Liu Y, Zhang YY, Yang NB, Yu YC, Jiang Q, Song QF, Qian GQ. Role of the extracellular matrix in COVID-19. World J Clin Cases 2023; 11(1): 73-83 [PMID: 36687194 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i1.73]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Guo-Qing Qian, MD, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ningbo First Hospital, No. 59 Liuting Road, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. bill.qian@outlook.com
Research Domain of This Article
Infectious Diseases
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jia-Jia Huang, Chu-Wen Wang, Ying Liu, Ying-Ying Zhang, School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Nai-Bin Yang, Guo-Qing Qian, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Yu-Chun Yu, Department of Endocrinology, Ningbo Ninth Hospital, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Qi Jiang, Department of Digestive, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Qi-Fa Song, Medical Data Center, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Huang JJ, Wang CW, Yang NB, Yu YC, Liu Y and Zhang YY designed the study and collected data; Huang JJ and Song QF analyzed the literature and wrote the manuscript; Jiang Q and Qian GQ funded and reviewed the manuscript; All authors read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Supported bythe Key Program of the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo, No. 202003N4019; Ningbo City COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention and Control Project, No. 202002N7033; Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China, No. Y23H190011; and Zhejiang Medical and Health Science and Technology Project, No. 2019KY154.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Guo-Qing Qian, MD, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ningbo First Hospital, No. 59 Liuting Road, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. bill.qian@outlook.com
Received: October 23, 2022 Peer-review started: October 23, 2022 First decision: November 25, 2022 Revised: December 14, 2022 Accepted: December 23, 2022 Article in press: December 23, 2022 Published online: January 6, 2023 Processing time: 73 Days and 20.3 Hours
Abstract
An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally, with over 500 million cases and 6 million deaths to date. COVID-19 is associated with a systemic inflammatory response and abnormalities of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is also involved in inflammatory storms. Upon viral infection, ECM proteins are involved in the recruitment of inflammatory cells and interference with target organ metabolism, including in the lungs. Additionally, serum biomarkers of ECM turnover are associated with the severity of COVID-19 and may serve as potential targets. Consequently, understanding the expression and function of ECM, particularly of the lung, during severe acute respiratory syndrome of the coronavirus 2 infection would provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of COVID-19 progression. In this review, we summarize the current findings on ECM, such as hyaluronic acid, matrix metalloproteinases, and collagen, which are linked to the severity and inflammation of COVID-19. Some drugs targeting the extracellular surface have been effective. In the future, these ECM findings could provide novel perspectives on the pathogenesis and treatment of COVID-19.
Core Tip: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) shows abnormal expression of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is a type of macromolecular network secreted by cells into the extracellular stroma, which is also the major component of connective tissue. It can trigger various activities biologically essential for tissue homeostasis and normal organ development. Upon severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, ECM proteins are involved in the recruitment of inflammatory cells and interference with target organ metabolism, including that of the lung. The manuscript addresses the current findings of ECM, which are linked to the severity and inflammation of COVID-19, and the roles of ECM in COVID-19.
