The Interplay between Airway Cilia and Coronavirus Infection, Implications for Prevention and Control of Airway Viral Infections

Abstract

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a class of respiratory viruses with the potential to cause severe respiratory diseases by infecting cells of the upper respiratory tract, bronchial epithelium, and lung. The airway cilia are distributed on the surface of respiratory epithelial cells, forming the first point of contact between the host and the inhaled coronaviruses. The function of the airway cilia is to oscillate and sense, thereby defending against and removing pathogens to maintain the cleanliness and patency of the respiratory tract. Following infection of the respiratory tract, coronaviruses exploit the cilia to invade and replicate in epithelial cells while also damaging the cilia to facilitate the spread and exacerbation of respiratory diseases. It is therefore imperative to investigate the interactions between coronaviruses and respiratory cilia, as well as to elucidate the functional mechanism of respiratory cilia following coronavirus invasion, in order to develop effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of respiratory viral infections. This review commences with an overview of the fundamental characteristics of airway cilia, and then, based on the interplay between airway cilia and coronavirus infection, we propose that ciliary protection and restoration may represent potential therapeutic approaches in emerging and re-emerging coronavirus pandemics.