TNF inhibits SARS-CoV-2 induced cell-cell fusion through activating the SDC4-RhoA signaling to promote actin bundles formation

Duan et al., Cell Insight, doi:10.1016/j.cellin.2026.100310, Feb 2026
In vitro study showing that TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) inhibits SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-induced cell-cell fusion and syncytia formation across multiple cell types and viral variants.
Duan et al., 14 Feb 2026, peer-reviewed, 11 authors. Contact: chenxin@scdc.sh.cn, mengguangxun@muhn.edu.cn.
In vitro studies are an important part of preclinical research, however results may be very different in vivo.
Abstract: Cell TNF inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Insight induced cell-cell fusion ELSEVIER SDC4 SARS-CoV-2 infected cells RhoA Research Article TNF inhibits SARS-CoV-2 induced cell-cell fusion through activating the SDC4-RhoA signaling to promote actin bundles formation Dong Duan a,b,c,1 , Xu Zheng b,1 , Yanqiu Zhou d,1 , Mengmeng Cui b,2 , Yunyi Li d , Xiaoxian Cui d , Yuying Yang d , Min Chen d , Huanyu Wu d , Xin Chen d,* , Guangxun Meng a,b,c,** a School of Life Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, China - b State Key Laboratory of Immune Response and Immunotherapy, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China - c NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Life Sciences and Medical Technology, Hainan Academy of Medical Sciences, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 570102, Hainan, China d Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, 200336, China H I G H L I G H T S - TNF effectively suppresses cell-cell fusion induced by various SARS-CoV-2 Spike variants across multiple cell types. - As a primary inflammatory cytokine, TNF is released early during innate immune cell activation to restrict membrane fusion. - TNF signals through the TNFR1 receptor and the TRADD/TRAF2/RIPK1 complex, subsequently activating the MAPK and SDC4 pathways to inhibit cell-cell fusion. - Downstream signaling of SDC4/RhoA/ ROCK triggered by TNF promotes actin bundle formation, creating a mechanical barrier against cell-cell fusion. A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: SARS-CoV-2 Cell-cell fusion TNF SDC4 Actin bundle * Corresponding author. ** Corresponding author. School of Life Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, China. E-mail addresses: chenxin@scdc.sh.cn (X. Chen), mengguangxun@muhn.edu.cn (G. Meng). 1 These authors contributed equally to this work. 2 Present address: Department of Pharmacology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cellin.2026.100310](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cellin.2026.100310) Received 23 September 2025; Received in revised form 12 February 2026; Accepted 12 February 2026 Available online 14 February 2026 2772-8927/ © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Wuhan University. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T A B S T R A C T SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced syncytia formation accelerates cell-to-cell transmission of the virus and enhances viral evasion by neutralizing antibodies. Host innate immune response plays a key role in controlling viral infection. Our present work identifies tumor necrosis factor (TNF) as a key cytokine quickly released from activated innate immune cells that suppresses SARS-CoV-2 spike-mediated cell-cell fusion. Mechanistically, TNF signals through the TNFR1-TRADD/TRAF2/RIPK1-MAPK-SDC4 axis. SDC4 further activates the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway, which promotes cytoskeletal reorganization, leading to the formation of actin bundles at the PAMPs TNF ROCK1/2) Innate immune cells TNFR1 TRADD/ TRAF2/RIPK1 MAPK SDC4 RhoA ROCK1/2 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cell Insight journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/cell-insight uninfected neighboring cells
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