Etiologically Elusive Disorders Research Network (EEDRN), New Delhi, India.
Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, India.
J Med Virol. 2021 Mar;93(3):1343-1350. doi: 10.1002/jmv.26615. Epub 2020 Nov 1.
The paucity of knowledge about severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific virulence factors has greatly hampered the therapeutic management of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recently, a cluster of studies appeared, which presented empirical evidence for SARS-CoV-2-specific virulence factors that can explain key elements of COVID-19 pathology. These studies unravel multiple structural and nonstructural specifics of SARS-CoV-2, such as a unique FURIN cleavage site, papain-like protease (SCoV2-PLpro), ORF3b and nonstructural proteins, and dynamic conformational changes in the structure of spike protein during host cell fusion, which give it an edge in infectivity and virulence over previous coronaviruses causing pandemics. Investigators provided robust evidence that SARS-CoV-2-specific virulence factors may have an impact on viral infectivity and transmissibility and disease severity as well as the development of immunity against the infection, including response to the vaccines. In this article, we are presenting a summarized account of the newly reported studies.
关于严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）特异性毒力因子的知识匮乏，极大地阻碍了对 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）患者的治疗管理。最近，一系列研究出现了，这些研究提供了 SARS-CoV-2 特异性毒力因子的经验证据，可以解释 COVID-19 病理学的关键要素。这些研究揭示了 SARS-CoV-2 的多个结构和非结构特异性，例如独特的 FURIN 裂解位点、木瓜蛋白酶样蛋白酶（SCoV2-PLpro）、ORF3b 和非结构蛋白，以及 Spike 蛋白在宿主细胞融合过程中的结构动态构象变化，这使其在感染性和毒力方面超过了以前引起大流行的冠状病毒。研究人员提供了有力的证据，表明 SARS-CoV-2 特异性毒力因子可能对病毒的感染性和传染性、疾病严重程度以及对感染的免疫反应（包括对疫苗的反应）产生影响。在本文中，我们对新报道的研究进行了总结。
