Reporter : He Liping / Publisher : The Paper / http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2020/10/446826.shtm / Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
Image : SARS-CoV-2 can infect species members of the cat family as well as pigs, dogs, goats, cows, camels and fruit bats according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences' test studies on 26 animal species.
SARS-CoV-2 (covi, in short, CCP virus) is the pathogen that causes covid or novel coronavirus pneumonia. Previous studies have suggested that covi may have originated from bats. In addition to infecting humans, it can also infect cats, dogs, tigers and minks etc. However, its cross-species transmission process or intermediate host is currently unclear. Recently, the international academic journal "Cell Discovery" (Cell Discovery) published online a study jointly completed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Microbiology and Tsinghua University team, entitled "Broad host range of SARS-CoV-2 and the molecular basis for SARS- CoV-2 binding to cat ACE2".
The research team found that SARS-CoV-2 has a wide range of possible hosts. At the same time, based on the binding ability of the viral spike (S) protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), after discounting some potential intermediate hosts, it may be helpful to find the real intermediate host, emphasizing the necessity of monitoring susceptible animals to prevent them from becoming a new source of covi transmission and causing another outbreak of the epidemic.
The corresponding authors of the paper are researcher Wang Qihui, researcher Yan Jinghua from Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Wang Hongwei of Tsinghua University. Lili Wu, a doctoral student from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qian Chen, a master student jointly trained by Anhui University and the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Liu Kefang, a doctoral student from the University of Macau, and Dr. Wang Jia from Tsinghua University are the co-first authors of the article. The authors of the paper also include Gao Fu, Director of the China CDC and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The research study pointed out that SARS-CoV-2 is currently the seventh coronavirus found to infect humans. Like SARS-CoV, it uses ACE2 as an invasion receptor. Among them, the interaction between the viral envelope protein and the host cell receptor is the first step to mediate viral infection, and to a large extent also determines the host range of the virus and a potential intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2.
According to the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the research team used ACE2 from 11 orders and 26 species of Mammalia and Birds as the research object, including domestic animals, pets and wild animals, and explored its relationship with SARS-CoV-2 spike(S) The binding status of the protein receptor binding domain (RBD).
The results of the study showed that SARS-CoV-2 RBD can interact with ACE2 of multiple species (17/26), including primates (monkeys), lagomorphs (rabbits), pholiotas (Malayan pangolins), carnivores (cats, civets, foxes, dogs, raccoons), odd-hoofed (horse), artiodactyl (pig, wild bactrian camel, alpaca, cow, goat, sheep) and pterodactyl (little brown bat, brown fruit bat) and ACE2 of these species can mediate SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus into cells.
At the same time, the study also found that SARS-CoV RBD can not only bind to ACE2 of the 17 species mentioned above, but also bind to ACE2 of mice (Rodentia), which indicates that the range of host receptors for SARS-CoV may be different from SARS-CoV-2.
This study also excluded some potential intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2, including rodents (guinea pigs, rats, mice), pterodactyls (Malayan horseshoe bat, Chinese chrysanthemum horseshoe bat, Philippine chrysanthemum bat), Insectivora (Western European hedgehog), African animal superorder (Pony Island hedgehog), and Galliformes (chicken).
It is worth mentioning that there are currently multiple evidences that cats can be infected with SARS-CoV-2, and tigers and lions (belonging to the cat family) have also been reported to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. These results indicate that cats can be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and the cat family may play an important role in the spread of covi.
In this study, the research team analyzed the cryo-EM structure of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD and cat ACE2 complex, and found that SARS-CoV-2 RBD binds to cat ACE2 in a similar way to human ACE2. However, the research team emphasized that as to whether cats are intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2, further research is needed.
The research team believes that this study provides important clues for finding the intermediate host of covi and emphasizes the necessity of monitoring susceptible hosts to prevent recurrence of an outbreak.
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