Receptor variation and susceptibility to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) recently spread from an animal reservoir to infect humans, causing sporadic severe and frequently fatal respiratory disease. Appropriate public health and control measures will require discovery of the zoonotic MERS coronavirus reservoirs. The relevant animal hosts are liable to be those that offer optimal MERS virus cell entry. Cell entry begins with virus spike (S) protein binding to DPP4 receptors. We constructed chimeric DPP4 receptors that have the virus-binding domains of indigenous Middle Eastern animals and assessed the activities of these receptors in supporting S protein binding and virus entry. Human, camel, and horse receptors were potent and nearly equally effective MERS virus receptors, while goat

SUBMITTER: Barlan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3993797 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature