Targeted down regulation of core mitochondrial genes during SARS-CoV-2 infection

SARS-CoV-2 polypeptides bind mitochondrial proteins, and the virus inhibits oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) nuclear DNA (nDNA) gene transcription by blocking coordinately expressed genes of modular components of the OXPHOS holoenzymes. While initial nasopharyngeal infection is associated with the down regulation of OXPHOS genes, at death lung OXPHOS is up regulated. By contrast, heart, kidney, and liver nDNA gene expression remains suppressed, likely contributing to mortality. The virus also induces miR-2392 which inhibits mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transcription and the translation of mitochondrial cytosolic mRNAs. This concerted inhibition of OXPHOS activates HIF-1α inducing a pseudo-hypoxic state favoring viral biogenesis. We interrogated the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection by infecting BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice with the mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 MA10 virus and analyzed their lung transcripts at day 4 post infection. Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data from lungs isolated from two strains of mice, a subset of each infected with the mouse adapated SARS-n-CoV-2 MA10 virus strain.