INTERKINGDOM CROSSTALK BETWEEN BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES AND VIRAL PATHOGENS: MICROBIOME-DRIVEN MODULATION OF VIRAL ENTRY, REPLICATION, AND IMMUNE ESCAPE

Human microbiome has emerged to be a determinant of host vulnerability to viral infections in addition to its traditional functions of promoting physiological homeostasis. An increasing body of evidence indicates that there is a complex interkingdom crosstalk that occurs between bacterial groups and viral pathogens, which proves that microbiome controls the entry of viruses, virus replication, and immune evasion. The bacterial populations also influence the dynamic of viral infections, by direct interaction with the viral particles, expression control of host receptors and intracellular environments control that either stimulate or suppress viral replication. Besides these direct effects, the microbiome forms the core of the development of innate and adaptive immune responses. Depending on the production of microbiome-generated metabolites and signaling pathways by the microbiome, the differentiation of immune cells, cytokine generation, and antiviral defense mechanisms are controlled and therefore influence viral clearance and persistence. Microbiome has been observed to dictate the severity of the disease and clinical outcome because dysbiosis, an imbalance of microbes and reduced functional diversity has been associated with imperfect immune regulation and hosts viral infection. This review provides a summary of microbiome processes in detail, which control viral pathogenesis, and, in particular, bacterial community-virus interactions and immune control. We discuss the evidence which is beginning to emerge on the relationship between microbiome composition and viral immune escape systems and speculate on the clinical potential of microbiome-based interventions. It has provided a new perspective on the treatment of viral diseases as well as enabled new insights into the management of bacterial communities and interkingdom crosstalk between bacterial communities and viral pathogens which makes the microbiome a promising antiviral therapeutic platform in the future.