Mutations in the Spike Protein of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Transmitted in Korea Increase Resistance to Antibody-Mediated Neutralization.

ABSTRACT: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) poses a threat to public health. The virus is endemic in the Middle East but can be transmitted to other countries by travel activity. The introduction of MERS-CoV into the Republic of Korea by an infected traveler resulted in a hospital outbreak of MERS that entailed 186 cases and 38 deaths. The MERS-CoV spike (S) protein binds to the cellular protein DPP4 via its receptor binding domain (RBD) and mediates viral entry into target cells. During the MERS outbreak in Korea, emergence and spread of viral variants that harbored mutations in the RBD, D510G and I529T, was observed. Counterintuitively, these mutations were found to reduce DPP4 binding and viral entry into target cells. In this study, we investigated whether they also exerted

SUBMITTER: Kleine-Weber H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6321919 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature