ArticleNature communications2021
Functional comparison of MERS-coronavirus lineages reveals increased replicative fitness of the recombinant lineage 5.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Two-year persistence of MERS-CoV-specific antibody and T cell responses after MVA-MERS-S vaccination in healthy adults.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Q1020R in the spike proteins of MERS-CoV from Arabian camels confers resistance against soluble human DPP4.Journal of virology · 2026Article
- Characterisation of Naturally Occurring MERS-CoV Spike Mutations and Their Impact on Fusion and Neutralisation.Viruses · 2026Article
- Operational zoonotic containment of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Saudi Arabia: An implementation-oriented One Health genomic framework.Veterinary world · 2026Review
- The impact of clade B lineage 5 MERS coronaviruses spike mutations from 2015 to 2023 on virus entry and replication competence.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- A public health perspective of SARS-CoV-2 evolution and surveillance strategies in Germany from 2020 to 2023.Communications medicine · 2025Review
- MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infection in diverse human lung organoid-derived cultures.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Ongoing Evolution of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Saudi Arabia, 2023-2024.Emerging infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Acquisition of a multibasic cleavage site does not increase MERS-CoV entry into Calu-3 human lung cells.Journal of virology · 2024Article
- Article
- Genotype and Phenotype Characterization ofViruses · 2023Article
- Endogenous IFITMs boost SARS-coronavirus 1 and 2 replication whereas overexpression inhibits infection by relocalizing ACE2.iScience · 2023Article
- Isolation and genetic characterization of MERS-CoV from dromedary camels in the United Arab Emirates.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- Enhancing immune protection against MERS-CoV: the synergistic effect of proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide and RBD domain targeting VLP immunization.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Evaluation of alpaca tracheal explants as an ex vivo model for the study of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection.Veterinary research · 2022Article
- Recombination in Positive-Strand RNA Viruses.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 11 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is enzootic in dromedary camels across the Middle East and Africa. Virus-induced pneumonia in humans results from animal contact, with a potential for limited onward transmission. Phenotypic changes have been suspected after a novel recombinant clade (lineage 5) caused large nosocomial outbreaks in Saudi Arabia and South Korea in 2016. However, there has been no functional assessment. Here we perform a comprehensive in vitro and ex vivo comparison of viruses from parental and recombinant virus lineages (lineage 3, n = 7; lineage 4, n = 8; lineage 5, n = 9 viruses) from Saudi Arabia, isolated immediately before and after the shift toward lineage 5. Replication of lineage 5 viruses is significantly increased. Transcriptional profiling finds reduced induction of immune genes IFNB1, CCL5, and IFNL1 in lung cells infected with lineage 5 strains. Phenotypic differences may be determined by IFN antagonism based on experiments using IFN receptor knock out and signaling inhibition. Additionally, lineage 5 is more resilient against IFN pre-treatment of Calu-3 cells (ca. 10-fold difference in replication). This phenotypic change associated with lineage 5 has remained undiscovered by viral sequence surveillance, but may be a relevant indicator of pandemic potential.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.