Role of Apoptosis in Viral Infections with Special Reference to COVID-19: Therapeutic Targets and Strategies

Viruses are intracellular obligate parasites that heavily rely on host machinery to undergo replication and survival. They activate and block almost all known types of programmed cell death. These modulate viral pathogenesis and host antiviral immunity to a great extent. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had resulted in a recent global pandemic that caused millions of deaths worldwide. Similar to other viral infections, it has also been reported that SARS-CoV-2 induces cell death in infected cells. This leads to severe inflammation, contributing to viral pathogenicity and poor prognosis. Biopsy samples from postmortem patients indicate the occurrence of cell death. But, the connection between SARS-CoV-2 and mechanisms of cell death is yet to be elucidated. Among the cell death pathways, apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis majorly contribute to disease pathogenesis. So, this chapter will focus on current evidence and research progress in the modulation of cell death due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. This will aid in uncovering novel therapeutic strategies in treating COVID-19 patients.