A Chinese team has discovered a new bat coronavirus that poses the risk of animal transmission to humans because it uses the same human receptors as the virus that causes Covid-19.
The study was led by Shi Zhengli, a leading virologist known as the “Batwoman” under the leadership of researchers from the Guangzhou Laboratory and Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University and Wuhan Institutes, as well as Guangzhou researchers. .
Shi is known for her work at Wuhan Academy, which has been at the center of controversy over Kuved’s origins, with one of the main theories suggesting that it was a lab leak from the city.
Although there are still no confirmed statements about the origin of the virus, some studies have shown that it originated from bats and jumped to humans through intermediate animal hosts. Shi (Shi) denies that the institute should blame the outbreak.
The latest discovery is a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus, which was first identified in a Japanese Pipistrele bat in Hong Kong.
The new virus comes from the genus Merbecovirus, which also includes the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
The virus can bind to human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE2), the same receptor used by the SARS-COV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19 to infect cells.
“We report the discovery and isolation of the unique lineage (lineage 2) of HKU5-COV, which can utilize not only BAT ACE2 but also human ACE2 and various mammalian ACE2 orthologs [– genes found in different species with a common origin],” they wrote in a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal cell.
The researchers found that when the virus is isolated from a BAT sample, human cells and artificially grown cells or tissues similar to micro-respirators or intestinal organs can be infected.
The researchers added: “BAT MERBECOVIRASS … is a high risk to humans through direct transmission or intermediate host promotion.”
HKU5-COV-2 binds not only to the ACE2 receptor in humans, but also in a variety of other species, all of which can act as an intermediate host and deliver it to humans.
Merbecovirus includes four different species – the Meers Coronavirus, two of which are found in bats and one in hedgehogs – and were added to the World Health Organization’s list of emerging pathogens prepared last year’s pandemic.
Earlier this month, Cell published a paper published by a team from the University of Washington and Wuhan University that concluded that although HKU5 strains can bind to BAT and other mammalian ACE2 receptors, they No “effective” human binding was found.
