Free DNA, a reason for severe COVID-19 infection?
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 21, 2025
Visualization of SARS-CoV-2 using Immuno RNA-Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization
Published on: December 23, 2020
1Department of Biobank, Shenzhen Baoan Women's and Children's Hospital, Jinan University, 56 Yulv Road, Baoan District, Shenzhen 518102, Guangdong, China.
Insights
Free DNA in the cytoplasm or blood may cause severe COVID-19 inflammation, unlike in bats. This hypothesis explains major symptoms like cytokine storms and organ damage in severe coronavirus disease 2019.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Immunology
- Pathology
Background:
- The rapid global spread of SARS-CoV-2 has led to severe COVID-19 cases with significant morbidity and mortality.
- Severe COVID-19 is characterized by cytokine storm and multiple organ dysfunctions, but its precise etiology remains unclear.
- While SARS-CoV-2 originates from bats, it causes severe disease in humans but not in its natural host.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel hypothesis for the etiology of severe COVID-19.
- To investigate the role of free DNA in triggering severe inflammatory responses in COVID-19 patients.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of immune responses in bats and humans to coronaviruses.
- Review of clinical manifestations of severe COVID-19, including cytokine storm and organ damage.
- Hypothesizing the mechanism by which free DNA induces inflammation in human cells.
Main Results:
- Bats exhibit tolerance to cytoplasmic or blood-borne free DNA, preventing severe immune responses.
- Humans, unlike bats, may experience severe inflammation when exposed to free DNA, potentially triggered by SARS-CoV-2.
- This free DNA-induced inflammation could explain key symptoms of severe COVID-19, such as ARDS, cytokine storm, and multi-organ injury.
Conclusions:
- Free DNA in human cytoplasm or blood is hypothesized as a key factor driving severe COVID-19 pathogenesis.
- This hypothesis offers a potential explanation for the distinct clinical outcomes observed in bats and humans infected with SARS-CoV-2.
- Understanding the role of free DNA may lead to improved therapeutic strategies for severe COVID-19.
Abstract:
The fast-growing outbreak of 2019 novel coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2) reached all continents except the Antarctica in merely three months. Severe SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) has a bad clinical outcome, and some reports emphasized the role of cytokine storm and dysfunctions of multiple organs. However, the etiology of severe COVID-19 has been largely unknown. Similar as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is also thought derived from bat coronaviruses. However, it is not pathogenic for bat at all, because free DNA in cytoplasm or blood cannot bring up violent immune response in bat; but it can produce severe inflammations in human. I hypothesized that the damage induced by free DNA is a reason for severe COVID-19, which can explain many symptoms of this disease, such as cytokine storm, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and muscus plug, acute injuries of heart, liver and kidney, and some special symptoms of COVID-19. My hypothesis will be helpful for better understand the etiology of severe COVID-19.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Cystic Fibrosis: Pathogenesis
CF is primarily caused by a genetic mutation in a chromosome 7 gene coding for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. The most common gene mutation leading to CF is the ΔF508 mutation,...
01:26Size and Structure of Viral Genomes
01:29Viruses with RNA Genomes
02:32Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
01:29Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens
NK Cells
NK cells are a crucial part of our innate immune system, acting as the first line of defense against viral infections. These cells can recognize and kill infected cells without prior exposure to the virus, effectively slowing down the spread of infection. Additionally, NK cells produce proinflammatory...
01:13Controls in Experiments