# Investigating How ADP-ribosylation Impacts Innate Immunity During Coronavirus Infection

> **NIH NIH K22** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE · 2020 · $108,000

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Coronaviruses (CoVs) have proven to be significant pathogens of both veterinary and medical importance
since their discovery over 50 years ago and are responsible for two recent epidemics (SARS-CoV and MERS-
CoV). The ability of CoVs to establish infection and to cause disease is dependent on their ability to inhibit the
host innate immune response. Many questions still remain in this field, such as what viral factors function in
vivo to prevent cytokine expression, and whether RNA sensors other than MDA5 can detect CoV RNA. I am
interested in exploring both viral factors that block the immune response, as well as host proteins that promote
the response and that mediate protection from infection. I have discovered that the conserved CoV
macrodomain both suppresses the innate immune response and promotes in vivo replication to facilitate viral
pathogenesis. Furthermore, our group and others have shown that the CoV macrodomain is an enzyme that
removes ADP-ribose from proteins. These studies indicate that protein ADP-ribosylation is a mechanism used
by the host to promote the innate immune response. However, neither the enzymes that catalyze the ADP-
ribosylation (PARPs) or the targets of this modification are known. The central objectives in this proposal
are to identify the factors that mediate antiviral ADP-ribosylation and enhance our understanding of
how ADP-ribosylation impacts the innate immune response to counter CoV infection. In Aim 1 I will
screen for the PARP(s) that impacts innate immunity during CoV infection and determine its localization. In
Aim 2, I will systematically identify the sensor and specific step of the signaling pathway that is activated in the
absence of the macrodomain. Utilizing the results from these two aims, I will then begin the process of
identifying the direct protein target of the CoV macrodomain. Taken together, these aims will further define how
ADP-ribosylation impacts innate immunity and CoV pathogenesis and will address the mechanism of how
macrodomains combat cellular ADP-ribosylation, which remains a significant gap in the literature. A detailed
understanding of the interplay between ADP-ribosylation and CoV macrodomains will provide significant insight
into mechanisms of the host response and how viruses combat this response.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9833486
- **Project number:** 5K22AI134993-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE
- **Principal Investigator:** Anthony R. Fehr
- **Activity code:** K22 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $108,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-12-07 → 2020-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9833486

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9833486, Investigating How ADP-ribosylation Impacts Innate Immunity During Coronavirus Infection (5K22AI134993-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9833486. Licensed CC0.

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