An international team of scientists has identified a coronavirus in bats from East Africa that possesses the capability to enter human cells. This refers to a virus designated CcCoV-KY43, which was isolated from bats of the species Cardioderma cor—an ecologically significant species primarily inhabiting East Africa, encompassing eastern Sudan and northern Tanzania. The findings of this study were published in the journal Nature.
The researchers determined that this particular virus can bind to a receptor present in human lungs—the glycoprotein CEACAM6. Nevertheless, research conducted in Kenya indicated that the virus has not yet spread among the local population. Importantly, the specialists did not work with live viruses; instead, they utilized the publicly accessible genetic data repository GenBank and synthesized the so-called “spike” proteins—the protrusions on the surface of coronaviruses responsible for latching onto cell receptors and facilitating viral entry.
Previously, it was assumed that all alphacoronaviruses employed just one of two known receptors to gain entry into an organism. As Dalan Bailey from the Pirbright Institute, a co-author of the study, notes, it is now clear this assumption was incorrect. “Before our work, it was thought that all alphacoronaviruses use only one of two possible receptors to infiltrate the host organism. We now understand that alphacoronaviruses can utilize a whole range of different receptors to unlock cells,” he states.
Co-author Julia Gall0, from the Pirbright Institute and the University of Cambridge, highlighted another key achievement of the work: “We not only discovered a novel coronavirus receptor in human cells even before the virus entered the human population, but we also conducted the study using only a fragment of the virus—the spike—rather than the entire pathogen, which eliminated the need to import a live virus into the UK.”
The researchers from the Pirbright Institute, the Universities of Cambridge and York, along with the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust research program and the National Museums of Kenya, emphasize that the potential for alphacoronaviruses to jump from animals to humans remains poorly understood. According to Professor Stephen Graham of Cambridge, the next objective is to locate other receptors. “Viral spike proteins are the keys that fit the locks to open the door and gain entry to the cell. So far, we have identified one receptor for an alphacoronavirus. The task now is to find the rest,” he explained.
The scientists plan to expand their investigations in East Africa to gain a better comprehension of the risks associated with the spread of similar viruses among people. Furthermore, they intend to apply the identical computational methodologies to search for other potentially hazardous pathogens. The ultimate goal is to be prepared in advance and potentially commence the development of vaccines and antiviral treatments even before a virus circulates widely among humans. “We hope our findings will aid in better understanding the risk posed by the viral family we have identified,” Graham concludes.
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