Coronaviruses displaying their characteristic halo of spike proteinsCDC/FRED MURPHY & SYLVIA WHITFIELDDutch researchers have identified the host cell protein that allows a recently discovered coronavirus to enter its target cells, according to a study published today (March 13) in Nature. The structure of the protein, called DPP4, appears to be conserved between bats and humans, suggesting that the new findings will help shed light on zoonotic transmission of the virus, as well as provide a target for potential vaccines.
“It’s a huge study,” said Ralph Baric, a virologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who was not involved in the research. “Any time you identify a receptor that a virus uses, it tells you a whole lot about its biology—where it targets, how it causes disease. And it tells you a lot about trans-species movement and the frequency of that event.” The fact that the new coronavirus can use both bat and human receptors for infection without drastically mutating raises the unsettling possibility that some coronaviruses are “pre-primed” to jump species, Baric added.
Until the deadly SARS virus was identified as a coronavirus in 2003, only two coronaviruses were known to infect humans, generally causing mild colds. Since then, three more have ...
