SARS‑CoV‑2 Interaction with Human DNA Methyl Transferase 1: A Potential Risk for Increasing the Incidence of Later Chronic Diseases in the Survived Patients

Mohammad Fakhrolmobasheri, Amirabbas Shiravi, Mehrdad Zeinalian

Abstract


Currently, the COVID‑19 pandemic is the most discussed subject in medical researches worldwide. As the knowledge is expanded about the disease, more hypotheses become created. A recent study on the viral protein interaction map revealed that SARS‑CoV‑2 open reading frame 8 (ORF8) interacts with human DNA methyl transferase1 (DNMT1), an active epigenetic agent in DNA methylation. Moreover, DNMT1 is a contributor to a variety of chronic diseases which could cause some epigenetic dysregulation in infected cells, especially leukocytes, pancreatic beta, and endothelial cells. Regarding the fact that epigenetic alterations have a partial, but not completely reversible phenomena, it raises the question that if this interaction may cause long‑term complications such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. Accordingly, long follow‑up studies on the recovered patients from COVID‑19 are recommended.

Keywords


Chronic diseases; COVID‑19; DNA Methyl Transferase; epigenetics; SARS‑CoV‑2

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