{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,2]],"date-time":"2025-11-02T07:27:48Z","timestamp":1762068468202,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,21]],"date-time":"2022-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1663718400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RES0034250","RES0048483"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RES0034250","RES0048483"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"University of Alberta Hospital Foundation for Medical Research","award":["RES0034250","RES0048483"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RES0034250","RES0048483"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Endogenous glucocorticoids and their synthetic analogues, such as dexamethasone, stimulate receptor-mediated signal transduction mechanisms on target cells. Some of these mechanisms result in beneficial outcomes whereas others are deleterious in the settings of pathogen infections and immunological disorders. Here, we review recent studies by several groups, including our group, showing that glucocorticoids can directly interact with protein components on SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. We postulate an antiviral defence mechanism by which endogenous glucocorticoids (e.g., cortisol produced in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection) can bind to multiple sites on SARS-CoV-2 surface protein, Spike, inducing conformational alterations in Spike subunit 1 (S1) that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 interaction with the host SARS-CoV-2 receptor, ACE2. We suggest that glucocorticoids-mediated inhibition of S1 interaction with ACE2 may, consequently, affect SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. Further, glucocorticoids interactions with Spike could protect against a broad spectrum of coronaviruses and their variants that utilize Spike for infection of the host. These notions may be useful for the design of new antivirals for coronavirus diseases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells11192955","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,21]],"date-time":"2022-09-21T21:22:23Z","timestamp":1663795343000},"page":"2955","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Could Endogenous Glucocorticoids Influence SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Eugenio","family":"Hardy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Center of Molecular Immunology, P.O. Box 16040, Havana 11600, Cuba"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carlos","family":"Fernandez-Patron","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"525","DOI":"10.1038\/ncprheum0898","article-title":"Genomic and nongenomic effects of glucocorticoids","volume":"4","author":"Stahn","year":"2008","journal-title":"Nat. Clin. Pract. 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