Cryo-EM structures of MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV spike glycoproteins reveal the dynamic receptor binding domains

Yuan, Yuan; Cao, Duanfang; Zhang, Yanfang; Ma, Jun; Qi, Jianxun; Wang, Qihui; Lu, Guangwen; Wu, Ying; Yan, Jinghua; Shi, Yi; Zhang, Xinzheng; Gao, George F.

T he emergence and persistence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), almost one decade after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003, highlights the need for the rapid development of effective interventions against these highly pathogenic coronaviruses (CoVs). In 2002-2003, SARS-CoV first emerged in China and quickly spread to other countries, resulting in over 8,000 infected with B800 deaths 1 . MERS-CoV was first identified in the Middle East in 2012, specifically Saudi Arabia and Jordan 2,3 . Since then, MERS-CoV has reemerged on numerous instances in the Arabian Peninsula, occasionally spreading to other countries worldwide due to imported cases from travel [4] [5] [6] [7] . Of note, in May 2015 a traveller returning from the Middle East caused a nosocomial outbreak of MERS in South Korea, involving 16 hospitals and 186 infected cases 8 .One of these cases then travelled to China, and accounted for China's only imported case thus far 4 . As of 25th July 2016, a total of 1,791 confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection have been reported, including at least 640 related deaths in 27 countries 9 . As MERS-CoV grows in global importance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has prioritized it as one of eight pathogens to use as a blueprint to control and prevent newly emerging infectious diseases 10 . Moreover, SARS-CoV are still a threat to public health, as SARS-like CoV was found to circulate in bats 11 .