SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 13 (nsp13) hijacks host deubiquitinase USP13 and counteracts host antiviral immune response

COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019), a respiratory disease caused by the novel virus strain, SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA betacoronavirus of the family Coronaviridae , has spread worldwide. 1 Notably, SARS-CoV-2 infection led to poor induction of type I interferon response, and the impaired type I IFN responses have been shown to be associated with severe COVID-19 disease. 2 However, molecular mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 suppresses type I IFN production, and how host cells respond to the inhibition of type I IFN response during SARS-CoV-2 infection, remain largely unknown.