Single amino acid substitution and inter-species transmission of MERS-coronavirus from camels to humans: abridged secondary publication
JSM Peiris *, RTY So, LLM Poon, KW Chu, CKP Mok, J Zhao
1 School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
- Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) acquires a human-adaptive mutation in the nsp6 gene following inter-species transmission from camels to humans.
- The nsp6 L232F mutation is associated with increased viral replication competence in the respiratory tracts of humans and mice.
- The nsp6 L232F mutation affects autophagic machinery within host cells, thereby modifying viral replication competence.
- MERS-CoV remains a public health threat, and ongoing surveillance in camels and humans is warranted.