Fig. 1: Coronavirus E protein promotes UcPS.

a, b mIL1β-HA secretion in HEK293T cells transfected with mIL1β-HA alone or together with FLAG-tagged SARS2 proteins as indicated. c Secretion of mature IL1s and IL6 in HEK293T cells with or without Myc-tagged E-SARS2 expression. d mIL1β secretion in WT or GSDMD-KO THP-1 cells with or without Myc-tagged E-SARS2 expression. e Secretion of mIL1β-HA in HEK293T cells transfected with mIL1β-HA alone or together with Myc-tagged E of indicated coronaviruses. f mIL1β secretion in THP-1 cells expressed with or without Myc-tagged E of indicated coronaviruses. g Secretion of mIL33-FLAG in HEK293T cells transfected with mIL33-FLAG alone or together with Myc-tagged E of indicated coronaviruses. h mIL33 secretion in BEAS-2B cells expressed with or without Myc-tagged E of indicated coronaviruses. i–l C57BL/6 WT mice injected with AAV-GFP, AAV-Myc-E-SARS2 or AAV-Myc-E-229E were challenged with 15 mg/kg LPS for 15 h and euthanized. Expression of Myc-E-SARS2, Myc-E-229E or GFP in the lung was verified by immunofluorescence (k, left panel). Serum IL1β levels were determined by ELISA in (i). IL6 mRNA levels in indicated tissues were analyzed in (j). Lung inflammation was analyzed by H&E staining (k, middle and right panel) and inflammatory area was quantified in (l). m–o mIL1β-HA secretion in HEK293T cells transfected with mIL1β-HA alone or together with Myc-tagged E WT or indicated ion channel (IC) mutants of SARS2 (m, n) or SARS (o). The secretion levels of mIL1β or mIL33 were quantified based on the band intensities in the medium using Image J (e–h). Data are mean ± s.d. Statistical significance was assessed using one-way ANOVA (n = 5) followed by Tukey’s multiple-comparison test. P values are indicated. Scale bars, 50 μm. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.