• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제30권8호
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• pp.1724-1728
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• 2009

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) helicase separates the double-stranded nucleic acids using the energy from ATP hydrolysis. We have measured ATPase activity of SARS-CoV helicase in the presence of various types of nucleic acids. Steady state ATPase analysis showed that poly(U) has two-times higher turnover number than poly(C) with lower Michaelis constant. When M13 single-stranded DNA is used as substrate, the Michaelis constant was about twenty-times lower than poly(U), whereas turnover numbers were similar. However, stimulation of ATPase activity was not observed in the presence of double-stranded DNA. pH dependent profiles of ATP hydrolysis with the helicase showed that the optimal ATPase activities were in a range of pH 6.2 ~ 6.6. In addition, ATP hydrolysis activity assays performed in the presence of various divalent cations exhibited that $Mg^{2+}$ stimulated the ATPase activity with the highest rate and $Mn^{2+}$ with about 40% rate as compared to the $Mg^{2+}$.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.186-191
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• 2006

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), a distant member of the Group 2 coronaviruses, has recently been identified as the etiological agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The genome of SARS-CoV contains four structural genes that are homologous to genes found in other coronaviruses, as well as six subgroup-specific open reading frames (ORFs). ORF3 encodes a predicted 154-amino-acid protein that lacks similarity to any known protein, and is designated 3b in this article. We reported previously that SARS-CoV 3b is predominantly localized in the nucleolus, and induces G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis in transfected cells. In this study, we show that SARS-CoV 3b fused with EGFP at its N- or C- terminus co-localized with a mitochondriaspecific marker in some transfected cells. Mutation analysis of SARS-CoV 3b revealed that the domain spanning amino acids 80 to 138 was essential for its mitochondria localization. These results provide new directions for studies of the role of SARS-CoV 3b protein in SARS pathogenesis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제43권11호
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• pp.953-963
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• 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an infectious disease with multiple severe symptoms, such as fever over 37.5℃, cough, dyspnea, and pneumonia. In our research, microRNAs (miRNAs) binding to the genome sequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and SARS-CoV-2 were identified by bioinformatic tools. Five miRNAs (hsa-miR-15a-5p, hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-16-5p, and hsa-miR-196a-1-3p) were found to commonly bind to SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. We also identified miRNAs that bind to receptor proteins, such as ACE2, ADAM17, and TMPRSS2, which are important for understanding the infection mechanism of SARS-CoV-2. The expression patterns of those miRNAs were examined in hamster lung samples infected by SARS-CoV-2. Five miRNAs (hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-221-3p, hsa-miR-140-3p, and hsa-miR-422a) showed differential expression patterns in lung tissues before and after infection. Especially, hsa-miR-15b-5p and hsa-miR-195-5p showed a large difference in expression, indicating that they may potentially be diagnostic biomarkers for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

• Applied Microscopy
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• 제51권
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• pp.13.1-13.7
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• 2021

The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has arisen as a global pandemic affecting the respiratory system showing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, there is no targeted therapeutic agent yet and due to the growing cases of infections and the rising death tolls, discovery of the possible drug is the need of the hour. In general, the study for discovering therapeutic agent for SARS-CoV-2 is largely focused on large-scale screening with fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD). With the recent advancement in cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM), it has become one of the widely used tools in structural biology. It is effective in investigating the structure of numerous proteins in high-resolution and also had an intense influence on drug discovery, determining the binding reaction and regulation of known drugs as well as leading the design and development of new drug candidates. Here, we review the application of cryo-EM in a structure-based drug design (SBDD) and in silico screening of the recently acquired FBDD in SARS-CoV-2. Such insights will help deliver better understanding in the procurement of the effective remedial solution for this pandemic.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.331-336
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• 2022

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibits various symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to severe pneumonia or death. The major features of patients in severe COVID-19 are the dysregulation of cytokine secretion, pneumonia, and acute lung injury. Consequently, it leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation, multiple organ failure, and death. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative virus of COVID-19, influences nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat, and pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), the sensor of inflammasomes, directly or indirectly, culminating in the assembly of NLRP3 inflammasome and activation of inflammatory caspases, which induce the inflammatory disruption in severe COVID-19. Accordingly, the target therapeutics for inflammasome has attracted attention as a treatment for COVID-19. Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) inhibits several inflammatory responses, including the NLRP3 inflammasome signaling. This review discusses the role of KRG in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 based on its anti-NLRP3 inflammasome efficacy.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.7.1-7.24
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• 2021

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has severely impacted global health and economy. There is currently no effective approved treatment for COVID-19; although vaccines have been granted emergency use authorization in several countries, they are currently only administered to high-risk individuals, thereby leaving a gap in virus control measures. The scientific and clinical communities and drug manufacturers have collaborated to speed up the discovery of potential therapies for COVID-19 by taking advantage of currently approved drugs as well as investigatory agents in clinical trials. In this review, we stratified some of these candidates based on their potential targets in the progression of COVID-19 and discuss some of the results of ongoing clinical evaluations.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.101-111
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• 2021

The world is going through the most unprecedented time with the outbreak of novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has become a threat to millions. A Coronavirus is a group of viruses that cause a variety of diseases in mammals and birds leading to a range of illnesses in humans including common cold and more severe forms like severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and COVID-19, which are life-threatening. The virus gets its name from its shape which takes the form of a crown with protrusions around it. In December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak was reported in the Wuhan City of China, which was later traced to a novel strain of Coronavirus and termed as Novel COVID-19. It typically causes flu-like symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath and is transmitted through human-to-human and there is no cure for it till now. Thus, this bibliometric study has been carried out to analyze the research progress in Coronavirus and literature published during a period of 30 years (1989-2019). Data for the study were fetched from Web of Science(WoS) multidisciplinary database and the publication trends in terms of total articles, productive countries, institutions, journals, productive authors, most cited articles and authors, etc have been analyzed. In total, 4917 articles were retrieved; these were from 711 sources and were contributed by 14442 authors. The collaboration index was 3.11, which clearly indicates that there has been a lot of collaboration in this field. The most preferred journal for the study period was "Journal of Virology" and the maximum contribution has been from the University of Hong Kong.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.16.1-16.8
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• 2021

Patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) demonstrate dysregulated immune responses including exacerbated neutrophil functions. Massive neutrophil infiltrations accompanying neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formations are also observed in patients with severe COVID-19. However, the mechanism underlying severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced NET formation has not yet been elucidated. Here we show that 2 viral proteins encoded by SARS-CoV-2, the nucleocapsid protein and the whole spike protein, induce NET formation from neutrophils. NET formation was ROSindependent and was completely inhibited by the spleen tyrosine kinase inhibition. The inhibition of p38 MAPK, protein kinase C, and JNK signaling pathways also inhibited viral protein-induced NET formation. Our findings demonstrate one method by which SARSCoV-2 evades innate immunity and provide a potential target for therapeutics to treat patients with severe COVID-19.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

Coronaviruses are known respiratory pathogens. In the past, most human coronaviruses were thought to cause mild symptoms such as cold. However recently, as seen in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), infectious diseases with severe pulmonary disease and respiratory symptoms are caused by coronaviruses, making research on coronaviruses become important. Considering previous studies, we constructed 'HCoV-IMDB (Human Corona Virus Immune Database)' to systematically provide genetic information on human coronavirus and host immune information, which can be used to analyze the interaction between human coronavirus and host immune proteins. The 'HCoV-IMDB' constructed in the study can be used to search for genetic information on human coronavirus and host immune protein and to download data. A BLAST search specific to the human coronavirus, one of the database functions, can be used to infer genetic information and evolutionary relationship about the query sequence.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제86권2호
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• pp.102-110
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• 2023

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major health burden worldwide, with over 600 million confirmed cases and 6 million deaths by 15 December 2022. Although the acute phase of COVID-19 management has been established, the long-term clinical course and complications due to the relatively short outbreak is yet to be assessed. The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant morbidity and mortality around the world. Interestingly, epidemiological studies have shown that fatality rates vary considerably across different countries, and men and elderly patients are at higher risk of developing severe diseases. There is increasing evidence that COVID-19 infection causes neurological deficits in a substantial proportion to patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, lack of physical activity and smoking are associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptibility. We should therefore explore why lack of physical activity, smoking, etc causing a population more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and mechanism involved. Thus, in this review article, we summarize epidemiological evidence related to risk factors and lifestyle that affect COVID-19 severity and the mechanism involved. These risk factors or lifestyle interventions include smoking, cardiovascular health, obesity, exercise, environmental pollution, psychosocial social stress, and diet.