Mouse Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 Is Not a Functional Receptor for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection |
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| Authors: | Adam S Cockrell Kayla M Peck Boyd L Yount Sudhakar S Agnihothram Trevor Scobey Nicole R Curnes Ralph S Baric Mark T Heise |
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| Institution: | aDepartment of Genetics, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA ;bDepartment of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA ;cDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA ;dDepartment of Biology, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA |
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| Abstract: | Human dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (hDPP4) was recently identified as the receptor for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, suggesting that other mammalian DPP4 orthologs may also support infection. We demonstrate that mouse DPP4 cannot support MERS-CoV infection. However, employing mouse DPP4 as a scaffold, we identified two critical amino acids (A288L and T330R) that regulate species specificity in the mouse. This knowledge can support the rational design of a mouse-adapted MERS-CoV for rapid assessment of therapeutics. |
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