Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2023 Feb 16;186(4):688-690.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.01.009.

Pangolin merbecovirus gets down to (poly)basics

Stuart J D Neil  1
Affiliations
Comment

Pangolin merbecovirus gets down to (poly)basics

Stuart J D Neil. Cell. .

Abstract

Trafficking of live mammals is considered a major risk for emergence of zoonotic viruses. SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses have previously been identified in pangolins, the world's most smuggled mammal. A new study identifies a MERS-related coronavirus in trafficked pangolins with broad mammalian tropism and a newly acquired furin cleavage site in Spike.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests The author declares no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Spike protein of MjHKU4-CoV-1 and the risk of its transmission to humans (A) The Spike glycoprotein from the MjHKU4-CoV-1 virus, like its bat CoV relatives, has a broad tropism for mammalian DPP4 proteins. However, a single amino acid substitution (K-to-R) in at the S1/S2 boundary generates a minimal furin cleavage site (FCS) that can be processed during viral assembly. This site gives the MjHKU4-CoV-1 S a 100-fold higher infectivity in human cells. (B) The presence of MjHKU4-CoV-1 in smuggled Malayan pangolins raises questions about whether these viruses are endemic in the wild or have been acquired after capture and trafficking. Furthermore, through its broad mammalian tropism, it presents a clear risk of zoonotic emergence either via the traffickers themselves or live sale, co-housing, or butchery of the animals in the presence of the general public or domesticated and farm animals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

    1. Keusch G.T., Amuasi J.H., Anderson D.E., Daszak P., Eckerle I., Field H., Koopmans M., Lam S.K., Das Neves C.G., Peiris M., et al. Pandemic origins and a One Health approach to preparedness and prevention: Solutions based on SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2022;119 doi: 10.1073/pnas.2202871119. e2202871119. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pekar J.E., Magee A., Parker E., Moshiri N., Izhikevich K., Havens J.L., Gangavarapu K., Malpica Serrano L.M., Crits-Christoph A., Matteson N.L., et al. The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2. Science. 2022;377:960–966. doi: 10.1126/science.abp8337. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Worobey M., Levy J.I., Malpica Serrano L., Crits-Christoph A., Pekar J.E., Goldstein S.A., Rasmussen A.L., Kraemer M.U.G., Newman C., Koopmans M.P.G., et al. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Science. 2022;377:951–959. doi: 10.1126/science.abp8715. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Heinrich S., Wittmann T.A., Ross J.V., Shepherd C.R., Challender D.W.S., Cassey P. 2017. The Global Trafficking of Pangolins: A comprehensive summary of seizures and trafficking routes from 2010–2015. Southeast Asia Regional Office, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia., Southeast Asia Regional Office.
    1. Lam T.T.Y., Jia N., Zhang Y.W., Shum M.H.H., Jiang J.F., Zhu H.C., Tong Y.G., Shi Y.X., Ni X.B., Liao Y.S., et al. Identifying SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins. Nature. 2020;583:282–285. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2169-0. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources