NFKB1 and COVID-19: The TF RELA has been increasingly recognized as a crucial modulator of the response to SARS-CoV-2 infection14,30 and is part of the NF-κB complex, along with RELB31, which is differentially expressed in MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infected cell lines (Supplementary Fig. 1D).