Viral replication and host response in airway epithelial cells predicts coronavirus pathogenicity and identifies HCoV-229E as an atypical seasonal coronavirus
Matthew J Gartner, Arada Hirankitti, Monika Mohenska, Stephany Sanchez, Guizhi Sun, Joseph Chen, Kevin Tang, Nikita Deshpande, Randy Suryadinata, Stephen Wilcox, Daniel P Rawlinson, Sarah L Londrigan, Daniel Steinfort, Philip Robinson, Jose Maria Polo, , Kanta Subbarao
This study compares viral replication and host responses in airway epithelial cells to distinguish pathogenic from seasonal coronaviruses, finding HCoV-229E induces severe epithelial injury despite limited replication.
bioRxiv · Nov 10, 2026 · PreprintMicrobiology