IFNγ at the crossroads of systemic protection and brain vulnerability to coronavirus infection
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The COVID-19 pandemic, together with previous outbreaks caused by highly pathogenic coronaviruses, highlighted the importance of understanding the host determinants that influence pathogenesis, both to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms, and to strengthen preparedness for future outbreaks. In our previous work we demonstrated dysregulation of IFNγ response genes in COVID-19 patients, associated with both age and viral burden, positioning IFNγ as a key mediator of host defense against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we used a preclinical murine model of coronavirus infection based on murine hepatitis virus (MHV-A59), widely validated for studying SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis, together with IFNγ knockout (IFNγ-KO) mice to investigate the role of this cytokine during infection. We performed a comprehensive morphological, biochemical, hematological and proteomic characterization of infected wild-type (WT) and IFNγ-deficient mice. Plasma proteomics revealed impaired inflammatory and coagulation-related responses in IFNγ-KO animals compared to WT controls. We found increased viral load and infectious particles in peripheral organs, including liver, spleen, heart and muscle in IFNγ-KO mice, whereas these were significantly reduced in the brain. Region-specific analysis further demonstrated decreased viral load in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of IFNγ-KO animals. Consistently, bioinformatics analysis of transcriptomics data of IFNγ-treated primary neuron cultures, together with frontal cortex from human COVID-19 patients, revealed activation of neuroinflammatory and neurological disease-associated pathways, supporting a role for IFNγ in driving brain inflammatory responses during coronavirus infection. Together, these findings reveal a dual role for IFNγ during coronavirus infection: it is important for controlling systemic viral dissemination and limiting peripheral tissue damage, yet it may also promote viral susceptibility and exacerbated inflammatory responses in the brain. These results support IFNγ modulation as a potential therapeutic strategy to prevent or mitigate neurological complications associated with COVID-19.
Author Summary
Viral infections are controlled by the immune system, but the same responses that protect the body can sometimes contribute to tissue damage and disease. We investigated how a key immune molecule, called Interferon Gamma, influences the outcome of Coronavirus infection in different parts of the body. Using a mouse model of Coronavirus infection with Interferon Gamma deficiency, we found that this molecule plays two opposing roles: it helps control the spread of the virus throughout the body, but it also increases vulnerability of the brain to infection and inflammation. When this immune signal was absent, animals showed higher amounts of virus in several peripheral organs but surprisingly had lower levels of virus in specific brain regions. We further found that this immune response was associated with changes in inflammation and neurological processes in human data. Our findings reveal that antiviral immunity is not always uniformly protective and that its effects depend on the tissue involved. Understanding this balance may help guide future approaches to reduce virus-associated complications while preserving the protective functions of the immune response.
