T cell-mediated immune response to respiratory coronaviruses.
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Emerging respiratory coronaviruses such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) pose potential biological threats to humans. SARS and MERS are manifested as severe atypical pneumonia associated with high morbidity and mortality in humans.
The majority of studies carried out in SARS-CoV-infected humans and animals attribute a dysregulated/exuberant innate response as a leading contributor to SARS-CoV-mediated pathology. A decade after the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, we do not have any approved preventive or therapeutic agents available in case of re-emergence of SARS-CoV or other related viruses. A strong neutralizing antibody response generated against the spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV is completely protective in the susceptible host. However, neutralizing antibody titers and the memory B cell response are short lived in SARS-recovered patients and the antibody will target primary homologous strain. Interestingly, the acute phase of SARS in humans is associated with a severe reduction in the number of T cells in the blood. Surprisingly, only a limited number of studies have explored the role of the T cell-mediated adaptive immune response in respiratory coronavirus pathogenesis.
In this review, we discuss the role of anti-virus CD4 and CD8 T cells during respiratory coronavirus infections with a special emphasis on emerging coronaviruses.
The first and second cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in the USA were reported by the Indiana State Department of Health and the Florida Department of Health on May 1 and May 11, respectively, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These two cases, like all previous cases reported worldwide, have a Middle Eastern connection.
The recent exponential rise in the number of reported cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is of major global concern.
We investigated a case of human infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) after exposure to infected camels. Analysis of the whole human-derived virus and 15% of the camel-derived virus sequence yielded nucleotide polymorphism signatures suggestive of cross-species transmission.