Kinase-independent activity of DYRK1A promotes viral entry of highly pathogenic human coronaviruses [ATACseq]

We demonstrate that DYRK1A regulates ACE2 and DPP4 transcription independent of its catalytic kinase function to support SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV entry. We show that DYRK1A promotes DNA accessibility at the ACE2 promoter and a putative distal enhancer, facilitating transcription and gene expression. Finally, we validate that the proviral activity of DYRK1A is conserved across species using cells of monkey and human origin and an in vivo mouse model. ATAC-seq of Vero-E6 cell line