Advances in the Study of α1-Antitrypsin—a Multifunctional Protein Counteracts SARS-CoV-2 Cell Invasion

YE Xiao^1,2, LING Xue¹, LIN Jiayu^1,3, ZHANG Xiaoya^1,4, ZHANG Ziyi^1,4, RAO Lang¹*

(¹Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Technology Innovation Centre for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China; ²Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, the Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China; ³School of Bioengineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; ⁴Jilin University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Changchun 130012, China)

Abstract:

α1AT (α1-antitrypsin) is a multifunctional glycosylated protein synthesized by the liver and secreted into the peripheral blood circulation. Its primary role is to protect the lung from proteolytic attack by neutralizing pulmonic proteases. α1AT also plays important roles in maintaining immune homeostasis, controlling inflammatory responses and pathogenic defending by interacting with various targets. α1AT has recently been discovered to have potent antiviral properties and might be used as an anti-virus reagent in the defense of pathogenic viruses such as HIV and SARS infection. Newest studies found α1AT prevented SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting transmembrane serine protease 2, a cell surface protease involved in SARS-CoV-2 cell invasion. Therefore, α1AT was studied as a viable antiviral drug for COVID-19 treatment. This review aims to summarize the recent findings of α1AT’s physiological functions, with a particular focus on the advance of mechanism study of α1AT counteracting SARS-CoV-2 cell invasion.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2023.03.0004