中国科学院武汉病毒研究所周鹏等研究人员合作发现，一种类似蝙蝠MERS的冠状病毒在穿山甲中传播，并利用人类DPP4和宿主蛋白酶进入细胞。这一研究成果于2023年2月16日发表在国际学术期刊《细胞》上。

课题组研究人员报告了一种在马来穿山甲中传播的新型MERS样冠状病毒，命名为Manis javanica HKU4相关冠状病毒（MjHKU4r-CoV）。86只动物中，pan-CoV PCR检测阳性的有1只，血清检测阳性的有7只（分别为11%和12.8%）。两株病毒的基因组序列基本相同（99.9%），并分离到1株病毒（MjHKU4r-CoV-1）。这种病毒利用人类二肽基肽酶-4（hDPP4）作为受体和宿主蛋白酶进行细胞感染，这种感染由所有已知蝙蝠HKU4r-CoV中不存在的弗林蛋白酶切割位点增强。MjHKU4r-CoV-1的刺突对hDPP4具有更高的结合亲和力，MjHKU4r-CoV-1的宿主范围比蝙蝠HKU4-CoV更广。MjHKU4r-CoV-1在人气道和肠道类器官以及hDPP4转基因小鼠中具有传染性和致病性。这项研究强调了穿山甲作为人类冠状病毒宿主的重要性。

据介绍，穿山甲是被贩运最多的哺乳动物，目前尚不清楚穿山甲是否在蝙蝠冠状病毒的人畜共患传播中发挥作用。

附：英文原文

Title: A bat MERS-like coronavirus circulates in pangolins and utilizes human DPP4 and host proteases for cell entry

Author: Jing Chen, Xinglou Yang, Haorui Si, Qianchun Gong, Tengcheng Que, Jing Li, Yang Li, Chunguang Wu, Wei Zhang, Ying Chen, Yun Luo, Yan Zhu, Bei Li, Dongsheng Luo, Ben Hu, Haofeng Lin, Rendi Jiang, Tingting Jiang, Qian Li, Meiqin Liu, Shizhe Xie, Jia Su, Xiaoshuang Zheng, Ang Li, Yulin Yao, Yong Yang, Panyu Chen, Aiqiong Wu, Meihong He, Xinhua Lin, Yigang Tong, Yanling Hu, Zheng-Li Shi, Peng Zhou

Issue&Volume: 2023/02/16

Abstract: It is unknown whether pangolins, the most trafficked mammals, play a role in the zoonotic transmission of bat coronaviruses. We report the circulation of a novel MERS-like coronavirus in Malayan pangolins, named Manis javanica HKU4-related coronavirus (MjHKU4r-CoV). Among 86 animals, four tested positive by pan-CoV PCR, and seven tested seropositive (11 and 12.8%). Four nearly identical (99.9%) genome sequences were obtained, and one virus was isolated (MjHKU4r-CoV-1). This virus utilizes human dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (hDPP4) as a receptor and host proteases for cell infection, which is enhanced by a furin cleavage site that is absent in all known bat HKU4r-CoVs. The MjHKU4r-CoV-1 spike shows higher binding affinity for hDPP4, and MjHKU4r-CoV-1 has a wider host range than bat HKU4-CoV. MjHKU4r-CoV-1 is infectious and pathogenic in human airways and intestinal organs and in hDPP4-transgenic mice. Our study highlights the importance of pangolins as reservoir hosts of coronaviruses poised for human disease emergence.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.01.019

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00049-1