Current Understanding and Future Perspective of Bats Antiviral Innate Immunity
Current Understanding and Future Perspective of Bats Antiviral Innate Immunity
King Hei Ip
ABSTRACT
Viruses trigger the innate immune system to produce interferons via the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription pathway, resulting in the transcription and expression of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). Bats and humans share some common ISGs but with some structural and genomic differences, impacting the ability for bats and humans to respond to viral infections. Also, there are fundamental differences in the bat and human innate immunity other than ISGs, including inflammasome activation, stimulator of interferon-stimulated genes protein function, immunological approaches, physiological adaptations, protein kinase R adaptation, and lineage-specific immune responses in bats. However, the incomplete genetic annotation of all the bat species, a lack of understanding of bat-virus interactions and viral co-infection, and biases in bat-virus relationship studies hinders the understanding towards bat antiviral innate immunity. By completing the genetic annotation of bats, developing wild-like environments when studying the bat immune system, improving data collection methods and conducting further studies on bat immunity and viral co-infection would further the understanding on infection dynamics and control as well as the relationship between bats and viruses, allowing a better prevention of future pandemics through a more understanding towards the mechanisms and triggers to viral disease emergence.
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