title: The receptor binding domain of MERS-CoV: the dawn of vaccine and treatment development.
abstract: The newly emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is becoming another "SARS-like" threat to the world. It has an extremely high death rate (∼50%) as there is no vaccine or efficient therapeutics. The identification of the structures of both the MERS-CoV receptor binding domain (RBD) and its complex with dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), raises the hope of alleviating this currently severe situation. In this review, we examined the molecular basis of the RBD-receptor interaction to outline why/how could we use MERS-CoV RBD to develop vaccines and antiviral drugs.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences & Key Laboratory of Bio-resources, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences & Key Laboratory of Bio-resources, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences & Key Laboratory of Bio-resources, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences & Key Laboratory of Bio-resources, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences & Key Laboratory of Bio-resources, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China. Electronic address: baojinku@scu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jin-Ku
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Bao
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017934:Coronavirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology*; D018819:Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D011991:Receptors, Virus; D014765:Viral Vaccines; D018819:Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4
keywords: Middle East; coronavirus; drug design; vaccines