1. Towards our understanding of SARS-CoV, an emerging and devastating but quickly conquered virus
- Author
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Youjun Feng and George F. Gao
- Subjects
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) ,Immunology ,Structural genomics ,Immunité des cellules T ,Natural reservoir ,Biology ,Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ,medicine.disease_cause ,Communicable Diseases, Emerging ,Microbiology ,Article ,Disease Outbreaks ,Coronavirus (CoV) ,medicine ,Humans ,Immunology and Allergy ,Épidémiologie moléculaire ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,Coronavirus ,T cell immunity ,General Veterinary ,Molecular epidemiology ,Syndrome Respiratoire Aigu Sévère (SRAS) ,fungi ,Outbreak ,SARS-CoV ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,Virology ,Récepteur ,body regions ,Épitopes CTL ,Infectious Diseases ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus ,Emerging infectious disease ,CTL epitopes ,Molecular virology ,Génomiques structurales ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome ,Viral disease ,Réservoir naturel ,Receptor - Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly emerging infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which has overwhelmed more than 30 countries claiming nearly 8400 cases with over 800 fatalities. Thanks to the unprecedented international collaboration, the whole-genomes of SARS-CoVs were successfully deciphered shortly after the identification of the causative pathogen for outbreak of SARS in southern China, in 2003. Hitherto, the SARS-CoV, as a viral paradigm of emerging infectious entities, has been extensively studied that has ranged from epidemiology, molecular virology/immunology to structural genomics. Also, several lines of breakthroughs have been record-brokenly obtained, that included the finding of ACE2, a functional receptor for the SARS-CoV, solution of the 3CL(pro) structure, a first crystal structure of SARS-related macromolecules, revealing of bats as natural reservoirs for SARS-like viruses and the possible involvement of civet cats in the SARS emergence. This review intends to outline the major progress in the journey of SARS-related exploration, by emphasizing those inaugurated studies with milestone-like significance contributed by Chinese research groups.
- Published
- 2007
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