
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: unknown
Published: March 14, 2024
SUMMARY The merbecovirus subgenus of coronaviruses includes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a zoonotic pathogen transmitted from dromedary camels to humans that causes severe respiratory disease. Viral discovery efforts have uncovered hundreds merbecoviruses in different species across multiple continents, but few been studied under laboratory conditions, leaving basic questions regarding their human threat potential unresolved. entry into host cells is critical step for transmission between hosts. Here, scalable approach assesses novel cell was developed and used evaluate receptor use the entire subgenus. Merbecoviruses are sorted clades based on receptor-binding domain spike glycoprotein. Receptor tropism clade-specific, with clade including MERS-CoV using DPP4 ACE2, HKU5 bat coronaviruses. Mutational analysis identified possible structural limitations adaptability cryo-EM structure HKU5-20s trimer revealed only ‘down’ RBDs.
Language: Английский