Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C1175175 (SARS)
 19,188 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Bats are increasingly recognized to harbor a wide range of viruses, and in most instances these viruses appear to establish long-term persistence in these animals. They are the reservoir of a number of human zoonotic diseases including Nipah, Ebola, and severe acute respiratory syndrome. We report the identification of novel groups of astroviruses in apparently healthy insectivorous bats found in Hong Kong, in particular, bats belonging to the genera Miniopterus and Myotis. Astroviruses are important causes of diarrhea in many animal species, including humans. Many of the bat astroviruses form distinct phylogenetic clusters in the genus Mamastrovirus within the family Astroviridae. Virus detection rates of 36% to 100% and 50% to 70% were found in Miniopterus magnater and Miniopterus pusillus bats, respectively, captured within a single bat habitat during four consecutive visits spanning 1 year. There was high genetic diversity of viruses in bats found within this single habitat. Some bat astroviruses may be phylogenetically related to human astroviruses, and further studies with a wider range of bat species in different geographic locations are warranted. These findings are likely to provide new insights into the ecology and evolution of astroviruses and reinforce the role of bats as a reservoir of viruses with potential to pose a zoonotic threat to human health.
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PMID:Novel astroviruses in insectivorous bats. 1855 Jun 69

Lower respiratory tract infections are the leading cause of death in children worldwide. Studies on the epidemiology and clinical associations of the four human non-SARS human coronaviruses (HCoVs) using sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays are needed to evaluate the clinical significance of HCoV infections worldwide. Pediatric respiratory specimens (1,683) submitted to a diagnostic virology laboratory over a 1-year period (December 2004-November 2005) that were negative for seven respiratory viruses by conventional methods were tested for RNA of four HCoVs using sensitive RT-PCR assays. Coronavirus RNAs were detected in 84 (5.0%) specimens: HCoV-NL63 in 37 specimens, HCoV-OC43 in 34, HCoV-229E in 11, and HCoV-HKU1 in 2. The majority of HCoV infections occurred during winter months, and over 62% were in previously healthy children. Twenty-six (41%) coronavirus positive patients had evidence of a lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), 17 (26%) presented with vomiting and/or diarrhea, and 5 (8%) presented with meningoencephalitis or seizures. Respiratory specimens from one immunocompromised patient were persistently positive for HCoV-229E RNA for 3 months. HCoV-NL63-positive patients were nearly twice as likely to be hospitalized (P = 0.02) and to have a LRTI (P = 0.04) than HCoV-OC43-positive patients. HCoVs are associated with a small, but significant number (at least 2.4% of total samples submitted), of both upper and lower respiratory tract illnesses in children in Colorado. Our data raise the possibility that HCoV may play a role in gastrointestinal and CNS disease. Additional studies are needed to investigate the potential roles of HCoVs in these diseases.
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PMID:Detection of four human coronaviruses in respiratory infections in children: a one-year study in Colorado. 1962 7

The experiences gleaned from new and suddenly emergent infectious diseases (e.g. SARS, avian influenza or diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile) have highlighted how important it is, also for infection prophylaxis, to be able to find instruments for rapid and effective communication. Since 1990 online (E) learning has been used to train nursing staff and offers the advantage of being able to study at an individual pace as well as cut down on the time and financial resources needed. It serves to overcome geographic distances in respect of the teaching institution, can be used at any time of day according to individual needs and has proved suitable for presenting learning modules in infection prevention.No doubt, traditional didactic learning continues to be the most important approach, but new technologies such as "problem based learning" (PBL) are becoming more popular, and allow students to acquire knowledge in concrete situations. Translating knowledge into behavior calls for an ability to convert scientific theoretic knowledge quickly, efficiently and clearly into practical behavior. Hence E learning is an ideal way to ensure that the latter requirements are met. While it is obvious that knowledge can be easily imparted by this method, further research is needed to establish whether and to what extent it is possible to use this method to translate the acquired knowledge into altered behavior too. Experts believe that novel media technologies hold out several new prospects for accomplishing this.
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PMID:Infection control - delivering the message in the 21 century. 2020 Jun 83

Malnutrition affects up to one billion people in the world and is a major cause of mortality. In many cases, malnutrition is associated with diarrhoea and intestinal inflammation, further contributing to morbidity and death. The mechanisms by which unbalanced dietary nutrients affect intestinal homeostasis are largely unknown. Here we report that deficiency in murine angiotensin I converting enzyme (peptidyl-dipeptidase A) 2 (Ace2), which encodes a key regulatory enzyme of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), results in highly increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation induced by epithelial damage. The RAS is known to be involved in acute lung failure, cardiovascular functions and SARS infections. Mechanistically, ACE2 has a RAS-independent function, regulating intestinal amino acid homeostasis, expression of antimicrobial peptides, and the ecology of the gut microbiome. Transplantation of the altered microbiota from Ace2 mutant mice into germ-free wild-type hosts was able to transmit the increased propensity to develop severe colitis. ACE2-dependent changes in epithelial immunity and the gut microbiota can be directly regulated by the dietary amino acid tryptophan. Our results identify ACE2 as a key regulator of dietary amino acid homeostasis, innate immunity, gut microbial ecology, and transmissible susceptibility to colitis. These results provide a molecular explanation for how amino acid malnutrition can cause intestinal inflammation and diarrhoea.
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PMID:ACE2 links amino acid malnutrition to microbial ecology and intestinal inflammation. 2286 60

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a negative regulator of the renin-angiotensin system, and functions as the key SARS coronavirus receptor and stabilizer of neutral amino acid transporters. ACE2 catalyzes the conversion of angiotensin II to angiotensin 1-7, thereby counterbalancing ACE activity. Accumulating evidence indicates that the enzymatic activity of ACE2 has a protective role in cardiovascular diseases. Loss of ACE2 can be detrimental, as it leads to functional deterioration of the heart and progression of cardiac, renal, and vascular pathologies. Recombinant soluble human ACE2 protein has been demonstrated to exhibit beneficial effects in various animal models, including cardiovascular diseases. ACE2 is a multifunctional enzyme and thus potentially acts on other vasoactive peptides, such as Apelin, a vital regulator of blood pressure and myocardium contractility. In addition, ACE2 is structurally a chimeric protein that has emerged from the duplication of 2 genes: homology with ACE at the carboxypeptidase domain and homology with Collectrin in the transmembrane C-terminal domain. ACE2 has been implicated in the pathology of Hartnup's disease, a disorder of amino acid homeostasis, and, via its function in amino acid transport, it has been recently revealed that ACE2 controls intestinal inflammation and diarrhea, thus regulating the gut microbiome. This review summarizes and discusses the structure and multiple functions of ACE2 and the relevance of this key enzyme in disease pathogenesis.
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PMID:Multiple functions of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and its relevance in cardiovascular diseases. 2332 47

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a complex network that regulates blood pressure, electrolyte and fluid homeostasis, as well as the function of several organs. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) was identified as an enzyme that negatively regulates the RAS by converting Ang II, the main bioactive molecule of the RAS, to Ang 1-7. Thus, ACE2 counteracts the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) which generates Ang II from Ang I. ACE and ACE2 have been implicated in several pathologies such as cardiovascular and renal disease or acute lung injury. In addition, ACE2 has functions independent of the RAS: ACE2 is the receptor for the SARS coronavirus and ACE2 is essential for expression of neutral amino acid transporters in the gut. In this context, ACE2 modulates innate immunity and influences the composition of the gut microbiota, which can explain diarrhea and intestinal inflammation observed in Hartnup disorder, Pellagra, or under conditions of severe malnutrition. Here we review and discuss the diverse functions of ACE2 and its relevance to human pathologies.
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PMID:ACE2 - from the renin-angiotensin system to gut microbiota and malnutrition. 2396 53

In 2012 a new viral emergent human disease appeared in the Middle East. This entity was named MERS for' Middle East respiratory syndrome'. By January 9, 2014, the disease had already struck 178 persons of whom 75 died from respiratory failure and diarrhoea. As the new disease was very similar to the deadly SARS (2002-2003) and since it was provoked by a Betacoronavirus, chiroptera were first suspected to be at the origin of this infection. Morever, recent studies performed in Saudi Arabia showed that one individual of the bat Taphozous perforatus harbored a short nucleotide segment identical to the homologous segment present in the viral strain isolated from the index-case of the epidemic. In addition, many strains of Betacoronavirus more or less related to those responsible for the MERS disease in man have been isolated from bats in Africa, Asia and Europe. However, another hypothesis was simultaneously proposed incriminating dromedary (Camelus dromedarius L.) as a likely actor in the transmission to human beings of the disease.We then reviewed data relative to other viral zoonosis in which dromedary was possibly implicated. This led to the provisional conclusion that this large mammal might play a role in the dissemination of the MERS-COV, the etiologic agent of the disease. This is based on epidemiological data and results of several serological surveys in animals.
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PMID:[Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS): bats or dromedary, which of them is responsible?]. 2453 3

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and recently emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) epidemics have proven the ability of coronaviruses to cross species barrier and emerge rapidly in humans. Other coronaviruses such as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) are also known to cause major disease epidemics in animals with huge economic loss. This special issue in Virology Journal aims to highlight the advances and key discoveries in the animal origin, viral evolution, epidemiology, diagnostics and pathogenesis of the emerging and re-emerging coronaviruses in both humans and animals.
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PMID:Coronaviruses: emerging and re-emerging pathogens in humans and animals. 2669 88

Members of the family Coronaviridae have the largest genomes of all RNA viruses, typically in the region of 30 kilobases. Several coronaviruses, such as Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), are of medical importance, with high mortality rates and, in the case of SARS-CoV, significant pandemic potential. Other coronaviruses, such as Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and Avian coronavirus, are important livestock pathogens. Ribosome profiling is a technique which exploits the capacity of the translating ribosome to protect around 30 nucleotides of mRNA from ribonuclease digestion. Ribosome-protected mRNA fragments are purified, subjected to deep sequencing and mapped back to the transcriptome to give a global "snap-shot" of translation. Parallel RNA sequencing allows normalization by transcript abundance. Here we apply ribosome profiling to cells infected with Murine coronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus, strain A59 (MHV-A59), a model coronavirus in the same genus as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. The data obtained allowed us to study the kinetics of virus transcription and translation with exquisite precision. We studied the timecourse of positive and negative-sense genomic and subgenomic viral RNA production and the relative translation efficiencies of the different virus ORFs. Virus mRNAs were not found to be translated more efficiently than host mRNAs; rather, virus translation dominates host translation at later time points due to high levels of virus transcripts. Triplet phasing of the profiling data allowed precise determination of translated reading frames and revealed several translated short open reading frames upstream of, or embedded within, known virus protein-coding regions. Ribosome pause sites were identified in the virus replicase polyprotein pp1a ORF and investigated experimentally. Contrary to expectations, ribosomes were not found to pause at the ribosomal frameshift site. To our knowledge this is the first application of ribosome profiling to an RNA virus.
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PMID:High-Resolution Analysis of Coronavirus Gene Expression by RNA Sequencing and Ribosome Profiling. 2691 32

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), a member of the genus Alphacoronavirus, has caused significant damage to the Asian and American pork industries. Coronavirus 3C-like protease (3CL(pro)), which is involved in the processing of viral polyproteins for viral replication, is an appealing antiviral drug target. Here, we present the crystal structures of PEDV 3CL(pro) and a molecular complex between an inactive PEDV 3CL(pro) variant C144A bound to a peptide substrate. Structural characterization, mutagenesis and biochemical analysis reveal the substrate-binding pockets and the residues that comprise the active site of PEDV 3CL(pro). The dimerization of PEDV 3CL(pro) is similar to that of other Alphacoronavirus 3CL(pro)s but has several differences from that of SARS-CoV 3CL(pro) from the genus Betacoronavirus. Furthermore, the non-conserved motifs in the pockets cause different cleavage of substrate between PEDV and SARS-CoV 3CL(pro)s, which may provide new insights into the recognition of substrates by 3CL(pro)s in various coronavirus genera.
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PMID:Structural basis for the dimerization and substrate recognition specificity of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus 3C-like protease. 2712 50


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