The epigenetic implication in coronavirus infection and therapy

Clinical Epigenetics

Table 1 Relevant epigenetic implication in viral infection

Epigenetic modification	Virus infection	Target	Functional outcome
Histone methylation	H3N2 influenza A	H3K4	Inhibition of the initiation of the host innate immune response [55]
	SARS-CoV	H3K4me	Promotion of active transcription and ISG expression [16]
		H3K4me3
	H1N1	H3K4me	Block of antiviral gene function [16, 54]
	MERS-CoV	H3K27me3	Down-regulation/inactivation of ISGs [16, 57, 63] and development of antagonistic mechanism to target the IFN innate immune response [59]
		H3K4me3
	HSV	–	Down-regulation/inactivation of ISGs [59, 60]
	H5N1-Vn1203	H3K27me3	Down-regulation of ISGs [16, 57]
	HIV-1	–	Down-regulation/inactivation of ISGs [59, 60]
Histone acetylation	Adenovirus (Ad) E1A	H3K9ac	Interference with epigenetic functions and global immune function [55]
		H3K27ac
DNA methylation	SARS-CoV	–	Delay/offset of pathogen recognition and modulation of ISG expression levels [16]
	MERS-CoV	–	Loss of antigen-presentation molecules [58]
	HSV	–	Delay/offset of pathogen recognition and modulation of ISG expression levels [16]
	H5N1-Vn1203	–	Loss of antigen-presentation molecules [58]
	HIV-1	–	Delay/offset of pathogen recognition and modulation of ISG expression levels [16]
	HCV	–	Interference with global immune function [56]
RNA methylation	KSHV	m6A/m6Am	Mediation of the stability of the viral transcripts [70]
	SARS-CoV	5mC	Modulation of the structure and the viral replication [67, 68]
	HBV	m6A	Regulation of gene expression and reverse transcription; transcript destabilization [69]

ISSN: 1868-7083