A list of recent research advances in the journal Nature for the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 (No. 4)

!--,2020 // --- Since December 8, 2019, several cases of pneumonia of unknown origin have been reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
most patients work or live near the local South China Seafood Wholesale Market.
in the early stages of this pneumonia, severe symptoms of acute respiratory infections appear, and some patients develop rapidly into acute respiratory distress syndrome (acute respiratory distress syndrome, ARDS), acute respiratory failure and other serious complications.
January 7, 2020, the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified a new type of coronavirus from a patient's pharynx swab sample, originally named 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization (WHO).
most patients with 2019-nCoV pneumonia have mild symptoms and a good prognostic prognostication.
, some patients have developed severe pneumonia, pulmonary edema, ARDS or multi-organ failure and death.
a transmission mirror image of SARS-CoV-2 (previously known as 2019-nCoV) from NIAID RML.
11 February 2020, WHO renamed the disease Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Same day, the Coronavirus Research Group of the International Committee for the Classification of Viruses, which classifys and names viruses, published an article on bioRxiv, noting that the team had decided that the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV was a variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that led to the 2002-2003 outbreak.
, the new pathogen was renamed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2.
It is worth noting that although the Coronavirus Research Group of the International Committee for the Classification of Viruses named the virus SARS-CoV-2, John Ziebuhr, chairman of the research group, believes that the name (SARS-CoV-2) is not associated with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, also known as atypical pneumonia).
, however, the re-naming of the virus has caused much controversy.
The World Health Organization is not satisfied with the name SARS-CoV-2 and does not use it, according to the Science website.
can cause multi-system infections in a variety of animals.
Before this, there were six types of coronavirus that can infect humans, mainly causing respiratory infections in humans: two highly lethal coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus Viruses (MERS-CoV);
based on the serious harm the outbreak has caused to China and the world, the small editor combed through the 2019-nCoV/COVID-19 study published in the journal Science to reach out to readers.
1.Nature: Revealing the structural mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 hedgehog protein binding human ACE2 receptor doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2772 In a new study, researchers from the Francis-Crick Institute in the United Kingdom found that the prickly protein (S protein) on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus can take at least ten different structural states when in contact with the human virus-like ACE2.
new insights into the mechanisms of infection lay the foundation for the development of vaccines and treatments.
results were published online September 17, 2020 in the journal Nature under the title "Receptor binding and priming of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 for fusion."
images from The Francis Crick Institute.
the first study to examine the binding mechanism between ACE2 and S proteins, the researchers characterization of 10 different structures associated with different stages of S protein binding and infection.
first incubated a mixture of S protein and ACE2, and then captured different forms of S protein by quickly freezing in liquid ethane.
used cryogenic electroscopy to examine the protein samples and obtained tens of thousands of high-resolution images of different binding stages.
they observed that the S protein was present in a mixture of closed and open structures.
after ACE2 binds to an open bit, the S protein becomes more open, resulting in a series of favorable configuration changes, thus preparing for further binding.
once the S protein binds to ACE2 at all three binding points, its central core is exposed, which may help SARS-CoV-2 fuse with the cell membrane, allowing infection to occur.
2.Nature: Build a SARS-CoV-2 encoding capacity map doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2739-1 In order to understand the pathogenic and antigen potential of SARS-CoV-2, and develop therapeutic tools, it is necessary to describe all the proteins it expresses.
SARS-CoV-2 encoded capacity map is currently based on computational predictions and relies on esologicity with other coronavirus.
given the differences in the protein arrangement of coronavirus, especially in various auxiliary proteins, it is important to determine a specific set of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in an unbiased and open manner.
In a new study, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and the Israel Institute of Biological Research used a set of ribosome profiling techniques to create a high-resolution map of the SARS-CoV-2 coding region, which allowed them to accurately quantify the expression of a typical virus open reading box (open frame, ORF) and identify 23 uncommented virus ORFs.
study was recently published in the journal Nature under the title "The coding capacity of SARS-CoV-2".
!--/ewebeditor:page--!--ewebeditor:page title"--these ORFs include upstream ORFs (upstream ORFs, uORFs) that may act as regulatory effects;
the researchers further found that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA is not translated more efficiently than host mRNA, but rather that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA translation dominates compared to host mRNA translation due to the high level of this viral transcription.
, this study provides a wealth of resources that will form the basis of future functional research.
3.Nature: Developed a SARS-CoV-2 model adapted to mice, laying the groundwork for testing a range of drugs and vaccines doi:10.1038/s41586-020-27 08-8 In a new study, researchers from research institutions such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill developed a new model of COVID-19 mice that reproduces many of the characteristics of the human disease and helps push the COVID-19 vaccine candidate into clinical trials.
results were published online August 27, 2020 in the journal Nature, under the title "A mouse-adapted model of SARS-CoV-2 to test COVID-19 syndromes".
needs small animal models that can reproduce SARS-CoV-2 infections to quickly assess medical responses.
mouse model, developed by virologist Ralph Baric's lab, has been used to accelerate the development of operations in space, such as the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna.
mouse model is expected to have a positive impact on the development of antiviral drugs, vaccines and antibodies against COVID-19.
. Nature: Women may have a stronger immune response to the new coronavirus than men doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2700, new study suggests Since the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, it has become clear that men, especially older men, have a much higher risk of dying from the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 than women of similar ages, but scientists have not been able to determine the exact cause.
in a new study, researchers from research institutions such as Yale University in the United States explored the immune response of men and women to SARS-CoV-2 infections and offered new insights into why men are more likely to develop severe COVID-19.
results were published online August 26, 2020 in the journal Nature under the title "Sexs difference in immune responses that underlie COVID-19 disease outcomes".
photo from Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain.
men and women do have different types of immune responses to COVID-19," said Akiko Iwasaki, a professor at Yale University and lead author of the paper.
these differences may lead to increased susceptivity in men.
"5.Nature full-text compilation! Revealing the structure and distribution of the new coronavirus prickly protein on complete virus particles doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2665-2 The pre-fusion structure of the coronavirus S protein, including SARS-CoV-2, has been expressed through the soluble secretion form of S protein isoid expression, followed by purification and cryo-EM imaging, which has been extensively studied.
in the pre-fusion structure of the S protein, the receiver binding domain (RBD) is located at the top of a wider S trimer burst structure above the fusion core.
in an S trimer containing three RBDs, each RBD is surrounded by an N-side domain (NTD) that shows a certain amount of fluidity.
In a closed pre-fusion structure, all three RBDs are tiled on the surface of the hedgehog structure, largely enclosing the subject binding bits, while in the open pre-fusion structure, one or more RBDs are raised upward, exposing the binding bits of the binders.
extensive glycosylation occurs on the surface of the S trimer, with 22 potential N-glycosylation points per S protein monomer.
after binding the subject ACE2, the structural transformation from pre-fusion to fusion allows the fusion peptides and trans-membrane domains of the S protein to convergate at one end of a long needle-like structure centered on a three-helix beam.
of the five N-connected polysaccharies along the length interval of the fused S tripolymer prick structure.
fully understand how S proteins work and how they interact with the immune system, it is necessary to understand the structure, composition and distribution of S trimers in viral particles.
a new study, researchers from the British Medical Research Council's Molecular Biology Laboratory and the University of Heidelberg in Germany used cryo-EM to study the structure, composition and distribution of S-thyres on the surface of viral particles.
results were published online August 17, 2020 in the journal Nature under the title "Structures and Distributions of SARS-CoV-2 Spikes proteins on intact virions".
6.Nature: In Phase 1/2 clinical trial, Pfizer's new crown pneumonia mRNA candidate vaccine triggers a powerful immune response in humans doi:10.1038/s41586-0 20-2639-4 In a new study, researchers from Pfizer reported that a candidate vaccine based on cutting-edge RNA gene technology showed signs of being strong against the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in an early clinical trial.
the candidate vaccine, called BNT162b1, triggered a strong immune response among participants, which increased with dose levels, and a second dose increased the immune response.
results were published online August 12, 2020 in the journal Nature under the title "Phase 1/2 study of COVID-19 RNA vaccine BNT162b1 in adults".
!--/ewebeditor:page--!--ewebeditor:page"--this early Phase 1/2 clinical trial was led by Dr. Judith Absalon of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
BNT162b1 is based on messenger RNA (mRNA) when the human body encounters a new coronavirus, according to her team.