Extended Data Fig. 12: Current model of how caspase-6 facilitates coronavirus replication using MERS-CoV as an example.
From: Coronaviruses exploit a host cysteine-aspartic protease for replication
a Upon coronavirus infection, the host initiates apoptosis to eliminate infected cells, aiming to terminate virus propagation. The triggered apoptosis cascade leads to activation of executor caspases (caspase-3, -6, -7). b MERS-CoV exploits caspase-6 to cleave its N protein, generating N fragments that bind to IRF3, attenuating the activation of IFN signalling, thus benefits virus replication. c In the presence of caspase-6 inhibition, N is not cleaved and IFN signalling is more intact, resulting in restricted virus replication.
