Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
mBio. 2013 Jan 15;4(1):e00002-13. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00002-13.
A newly identified betacoronavirus, human coronavirus EMC (HCoV-EMC), has been isolated from several patients with respiratory and renal disease in the Middle East. While only a few infected patients have been identified, the mortality of the infection is greater than 50%. Like its better-known cousin severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), HCoV-EMC appears to have originated from bats. In a recent article in mBio, Müller et al. described several important differences between the two viruses [M. A. Müller et al., mBio 3(6):e00515-12, 2012, doi:10.1128/mBio.00515-12]. Unlike SARS-CoV, HCoV-EMC can directly infect bat cells. As important, HCoV-EMC does not enter cells using the SARS-CoV receptor, human angiotensin-converting receptor-2 (hACE2). These results provide a strong incentive for identifying the host cell receptor used by HCoV-EMC. Identification of the receptor will provide insight into the pathogenesis of pulmonary and renal disease and may also suggest novel therapeutic interventions.
一种新鉴定的β冠状病毒，人冠状病毒 EMC（HCoV-EMC），已从中东地区几位患有呼吸道和肾脏疾病的患者中分离出来。虽然只鉴定出了少数受感染的患者，但该感染的死亡率大于 50%。像其更为人熟知的表亲严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（SARS-CoV）一样，HCoV-EMC 似乎源自蝙蝠。在 mBio 最近的一篇文章中，Müller 等人描述了这两种病毒之间的几个重要差异[M. A. Müller 等人，mBio 3(6):e00515-12, 2012, doi:10.1128/mBio.00515-12]。与 SARS-CoV 不同，HCoV-EMC 可以直接感染蝙蝠细胞。同样重要的是，HCoV-EMC 不使用 SARS-CoV 受体，即人血管紧张素转换酶受体-2（hACE2）进入细胞。这些结果为鉴定 HCoV-EMC 所使用的宿主细胞受体提供了强有力的动力。鉴定受体将深入了解肺部和肾脏疾病的发病机制，也可能提示新的治疗干预措施。
