二肽基肽酶4为人类中东呼吸道综合征冠状病毒MERS-CoV功能性细胞受体

中东呼吸道综合征冠状病毒（Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, MERS-CoV）是继SARS冠状病毒（SARS-CoV）之后新近出现的又一种能够引发严重呼吸道感染的人类新发冠状病毒. MERS-CoV于2012年9月首次在中东一些国家被发现，截至2013年9月7日,MERS-CoV已经引起114例感染病例，其中54人死亡，死亡率约50%. 病毒受体研究为MERS-CoV等人类新发冠状病毒进化和跨种传播机制提供重要依据．最近，Raj等在Nature发表文章，首次报道了二肽基肽酶4（dipeptidyl peptidase 4，DPP4；又名CD26）为MERS-CoV感染细胞的功能性受体．MERS-CoV功能性受体的发现为人类新冠状病毒溯源和跨种进化研究、病毒传染和流行病学特征分析以及抗病毒药物和疫苗研究提供重要基础.

A Novel Human Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Uses Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 as Functional Receptor for Host Cell Infection

Coronavirus is a zoonotic viruses to cause common cold with severe infections in humans. A new human coronavirus identified in the Middle East in the summer of 2012, called human coronavirus-EMC, is now renamed as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus（MERS-CoV）by the Coronavirus Study Group. MERS-CoV causes serious respiratory infection and kidney failure as shown from infected 114 people worldwide, including 54 deceased by September 7, 2013. Several reports indicated that MERS-CoV use different receptor from SARS-CoV for infection. A very recent report discovered that dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4 or CD26) was a functional receptor, and promoted the study of the origin and evolution of this virus. The fingdings would help to evaluate the level of risk and to develop potential drugs or vaccines.