冠状病毒

冠状病毒(coronavirus)是一种常见的单链、非片段化、线性、正链RNA包膜病毒,能感染脊椎动物而引起,特别是呼吸系统疾病。此病毒可分三大类,感染不同动物,其遗传物质RNA表现出一种特殊的、有趣的、目前并不为人们完全所知的策略完成其自身繁殖。最近,科学家发现“非典型肺炎”的病原体为一种新型的冠状病毒,表现出其特别的基因组结构,有别于已知的典型冠状病毒,相关研究正在进行中。     

冠状病毒的新成员--SARS-CoV的基因组特性

2003年3月,人类发现一种新的冠状病毒SARS-CoV,这种病毒是非典型性肺炎(SARS)的病原体。SARS-CoV的基因组序列已经由包括中国科学家在内的全世界的科研人员测定完成。该文对国际报道的SARS病源的基因序列进行了收录,阐述了SARS-CoV基因组的基本特性：SARS-CoV的基因组长约28-30kb,与冠状病毒科的基因组长度相符合,其中包括11个编码序列,基因组的组织方式也与其他冠状病毒类似,从表面蛋白(S蛋白)、外膜蛋白(M蛋白)和核蛋白(N蛋白)上看,SARS病毒与其他冠状病毒的对应蛋白进化关系接近。同时发现,在某些区域,SARS病毒的基因序列与其他冠状病毒存在相当大的差异,具有自身比较保守的基因组序列结构。而且氨基酸的序列也与其他冠状病毒有很大程度的不同。基因信息的冗余分析表明,SARS-CoV具有较低的冗余度,即发生变异的可能性比较大。虽然SARS-CoV外表与冠状病毒类似,亲缘关系未超出冠状病毒科界限,但由于蛋白基因与氨基酸的序列与其他冠状病毒有本质不同,因此可能不是其他冠状病毒的变异体,而是一种与冠状病毒类似、但早已独立存在、此前未被人类所认识的新病毒。     

Two Inhibitors Against the 3C-Like Proteases of Swine Coronavirus and Feline Coronavirus

Virologica Sinica - Coronaviruses (CoVs) are important human and animal pathogens that cause respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. Porcine epidemic diarrhoea (PED), characterized by severe...     

水貂冠状病毒研究进展

水貂冠状病毒(Mink coronavirus,MCoV)属于冠状病毒科α冠状病毒属的成员,通常会引起以卡他性腹泻为主要症状的水貂流行性卡他性胃肠炎(Mink epizootic catarrhal gastroenteritis,ECG).该病已在各国许多貂场暴发,给养貂业造成巨大经济损失.本文总结了自1975年报道ECG以来,水貂冠状病毒的研究进展,包括MCoV的基因组结构、遗传进化分析、受体特点及ECG的诊断及防治,以期引起人们对水貂冠状病毒的重视,为水貂冠状病毒病的防控提供参考.     

Feline Coronavirus Type II Strains 79-1683 and 79-1146 Originate from a Double Recombination between Feline Coronavirus Type I and Canine Coronavirus

Recent evidence suggests that the type II feline coronavirus (FCoV) strains 79-1146 and 79-1683 have arisen from a homologous RNA recombination event between FCoV type I and canine coronavirus (CCV). In both cases, the template switch apparently took place between the S and M genes, giving rise to recombinant viruses which encode a CCV-like S protein and the M, N, 7a, and 7b proteins of FCoV type I (K. Motowaka, T. Hoh- datsu, H. Hashimoto, and H. Koyama, Microbiol. Immunol. 40:425–433, 1996; H. Vennema, A. Poland, K. Floyd Hawkins, and N. C. Pedersen, Feline Pract. 23:40–44, 1995). In the present study, we have looked for additional FCoV-CCV recombination sites. Four regions in the pol gene were selected for comparative sequence analysis of the type II FCoV strains 79-1683 and 79-1146, the type I FCoV strains TN406 and UCD1, the CCV strain K378, and the TGEV strain Purdue. Our data show that the type II FCoVs have arisen from double recombination events: additional crossover sites were mapped in the ORF1ab frameshifting region of strain 79-1683 and in the 5′ half of ORF1b of strain 79-1146.     

我国部分地区犬冠状病毒感染状况调查

本研究旨在调查新冠疫情期间我国部分地区犬新型冠状病毒(SARS-CoV-2)以及犬冠状病毒(CCoV)感染状况。从14个城市的动物医院收集表现为呼吸道症状和或腹泻症状的犬的鼻拭子和直肠拭子样品,RTPCR检测样品是否存在SARS-CoV-2和CCoV核酸。结果显示,206只犬鼻拭子和直肠拭子样品均未检出SARS-CoV-2,24只犬检出CCoV,阳性率为11.65%,以犬肠道冠状病毒(CECoV)感染为主(19/24),CECoVⅠ和Ⅱ型均在我国流行。CECoV的M基因序列与人α冠状病毒属病毒相似性为47.3-61.3%,犬呼吸道冠状病毒(CRCoV)的M和N基因的部分基因序列与人β冠状病毒属病毒相似性为9.2%-46.2%。结果说明,新冠疫情期间,我国14个城市动物医院就诊犬未感染SARS-CoV-2,CCoV与SARS-CoV-2亲缘关系较远,表现呼吸道和消化道症状的犬应高度关注CCoV感染。     

Recombination and Coronavirus Defective Interfering RNAs

Naturally occurring defective interfering RNAs have been found in 4 of 14 coronavirus species. They range in size from 2.2 kb to approximately 25 kb, or 80% of the 30-kb parent virus genome. The large DI RNAs do not in all cases appear to require helper virus for intracellular replication and it has been postulated that they may on their own function as agents of disease. Coronavirus DI RNAs appear to arise by internal deletions (through nonhomologous recombination events) on the virus genome or on DI RNAs of larger size by a polymerase strand-switching (copy-choice) mechanism. In addition to their use in the study of virus RNA replication and virus assembly, coronavirus DI RNAs are being used in a major way to study the mechanism of a high-frequency, site-specific RNA recombination event that leads to leader acquisition during virus replication (i.e., the leader fusion event that occurs during synthesis of subgenomic mRNAs, and the leader-switching event that can occur during DI RNA replication), a distinguishing feature of coronaviruses (and arteriviruses). Coronavirus DI RNAs are also being engineered as vehicles for the generation of targeted recombinants of the parent virus genome.     

Coronavirus infection of polarized epithelial cells

Epithelial cells are the first host cells to be infected by incoming coronaviruses. Recent observations in vitro show that coronaviruses are released from a specific side of these polarized cells, and this polarized release might be important for the spread of the infection in vivo. Mechanisms for the directional sorting of coronaviruses might be similar to those governing the polar release of secretory proteins.     

冠状病毒入侵细胞途径的研究进展

近年来，冠状病毒严重威胁人类和动物的健康。病毒具有专性胞内寄生的特点，其需要利用细胞完成自身的增殖，因此入侵细胞的过程是其感染机制中非常重要的一部分。多项研究表明冠状病毒能通过细胞表面途径和内吞途径入侵细胞。通过对冠状病毒入侵途径研究有助于了解其生命周期，有利于冠状病毒的防治以及新型药物和疫苗的研发。本文对近年来不同冠状病毒的入侵途径及针对入侵途径所开发的潜在药物的相关研究进行总结，以期为全面了解冠状病毒的入侵方式提供参考。     

Coronavirus NSP6 restricts autophagosome expansion

Autophagy is a cellular response to starvation that generates autophagosomes to carry long-lived proteins and cellular organelles to lysosomes for degradation. Activation of autophagy by viruses can provide an innate defense against infection, and for (+) strand RNA viruses autophagosomes can facilitate assembly of replicase proteins. We demonstrated that nonstructural protein (NSP) 6 of the avian coronavirus, infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), generates autophagosomes from the ER. A statistical analysis of MAP1LC3B puncta showed that NSP6 induced greater numbers of autophagosomes per cell compared with starvation, but the autophagosomes induced by NSP6 had smaller diameters compared with starvation controls. Small diameter autophagosomes were also induced by infection of cells with IBV, and by NSP6 proteins of MHV and SARS and NSP5, NSP6, and NSP7 of arterivirus PRRSV. Analysis of WIPI2 puncta induced by NSP6 suggests that NSP6 limits autophagosome diameter at the point of omegasome formation. IBV NSP6 also limited autophagosome and omegasome expansion in response to starvation and Torin1 and could therefore limit the size of autophagosomes induced following inhibition of MTOR signaling, as well as those induced independently by the NSP6 protein itself. MAP1LC3B-puncta induced by NSP6 contained SQSTM1, which suggests they can incorporate autophagy cargos. However, NSP6 inhibited the autophagosome/lysosome expansion normally seen following starvation. Taken together the results show that coronavirus NSP6 proteins limit autophagosome expansion, whether they are induced directly by the NSP6 protein, or indirectly by starvation or chemical inhibition of MTOR signaling. This may favor coronavirus infection by compromising the ability of autophagosomes to deliver viral components to lysosomes for degradation.     

Molecular Evolution of Human Coronavirus Genomes

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Reversal of the Progression of Fatal Coronavirus Infection in Cats by a Broad-Spectrum Coronavirus Protease Inhibitor

Coronaviruses infect animals and humans causing a wide range of diseases. The diversity of coronaviruses in many mammalian species is contributed by relatively high mutation and recombination rates during replication. This dynamic nature of coronaviruses may facilitate cross-species transmission and shifts in tissue or cell tropism in a host, resulting in substantial change in virulence. Feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) causes inapparent or mild enteritis in cats, but a highly fatal disease, called feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), can arise through mutation of FECV to FIP virus (FIPV). The pathogenesis of FIP is intimately associated with immune responses and involves depletion of T cells, features shared by some other coronaviruses like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. The increasing risks of highly virulent coronavirus infections in humans or animals call for effective antiviral drugs, but no such measures are yet available. Previously, we have reported the inhibitors that target 3C-like protease (3CLpro) with broad-spectrum activity against important human and animal coronaviruses. Here, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of our 3CLpro inhibitor in laboratory cats with FIP. Experimental FIP is 100% fatal once certain clinical and laboratory signs become apparent. We found that antiviral treatment led to full recovery of cats when treatment was started at a stage of disease that would be otherwise fatal if left untreated. Antiviral treatment was associated with a rapid improvement in fever, ascites, lymphopenia and gross signs of illness and cats returned to normal health within 20 days or less of treatment. Significant reduction in viral titers was also observed in cats. These results indicate that continuous virus replication is required for progression of immune-mediated inflammatory disease of FIP. These findings may provide important insights into devising therapeutic strategies and selection of antiviral compounds for further development for important coronaviruses in animals and humans.     

冠状病毒的基因组结构及特征

冠状病毒(Coronavirus)是具有包膜的正单链RNA病毒,基因组大小介于26 000与32 000 nt之间,编码刺突蛋白(S)、包膜蛋白(E)、膜蛋白(M)和核壳蛋白(N)等四种结构蛋白、复制酶(ORF1a/b)与若干辅助蛋白,部分病毒还具有血细胞凝集素酯酶(HE),这些蛋白除维持病毒结构,还有促进感染与抵抗宿主免疫反应等功能,其中刺突蛋白可与宿主细胞表面的受体结合,使病毒包膜和宿主细胞的膜融合以感染细胞.冠状病毒的感染会影响细胞的许多信号转导途径,引发免疫反应,是一类可感染哺乳动物与鸟类的病毒.     

The Novel Coronavirus – Latest Findings

What was initially a lung infection epidemic in the metropolitan area of Wuhan followed by a now contained extension to mainland China has now spread to all continents as a major pandemic with current hotspots in Europe and the USA. This minireview is an update of an earlier report on this novel coronavirus infection (Brüssow, 2020, Microb Biotech 13, 607). I am now summarizing the research literature published between end of February to mid-April 2020.