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. 2023 Jan 20;69:43–56. doi: 10.1016/j.mito.2023.01.005

Table 3.

Coronavirus genes and mitochondrial targeting.

Gene Mitochondrial Function References
ORF1ab Cause disruption of mitochondrial morphology Freundt et al., 2009
S Prevents mitochondria-driven apoptosis when the virus is uncoated inside the cell Kalashnyk et al., 2021
ORF3a Affect mitochondrial function to induce apoptosis. ORF3a induces mitochondrial damage leading to activation of NLRP3 inflammasome Law et al., 2005, Shi et al., 2014
ORF3b Activation of mitochondria-mediated anti-viral response. ORF3b at first accumulates within the nucleolus and then gets translocated to the OMM and demonstrated to take part in G0/G1 arrest and induction of apoptosis McBride and Fielding, 2012a
E Reduce mitochondrial stress. Regulates nuclear-encoded genes associated with mitochondrial functions to regulate stress response and apoptosis DeDiego et al., 2011
M Induce mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, also induces apoptosis via altering the expression of PDK-1 and Akt kinase and the release of cytochrome c Surjit et al., 2004, Tsoi et al., 2014
ORF6 Activation of the mitochondrial signaling pathway. Involves in activation of caspase 3 with involvement of mitochondria to induce host cell apoptosis Sawicki et al., 2005
ORF7a Involved in Caspase-dependent mitochondria-mediated apoptosis Tan et al., 2007
ORF7b Involved in Caspase-dependent mitochondria-mediated apoptosis Tan et al., 2007
ORF8a ORF8a is localized inside the mitochondria and induced MMP and rROS production. Involved in Caspase-3 dependent mitochondria-mediated apoptosis Chen et al., 2007
ORF8b Involve in mitochondrial dysfunction, damage to the lysosome, and activation of autophagy Shi et al., 2019b
N Reduces mitochondrial membrane potential, increased ROS production, and apoptosis induction by cytochrome release into the cytoplasm Zhang et al., 2007
ORF9b Induces both structural and functional changes to the mitochondria also induces apoptosis Shi et al., 2014