Publications by authors named "Hao-Feng Lin"

Gaining insight into the cell-entry mechanisms of swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) is critical for investigating potential cross-species infections. Here, we demonstrated that pretreatment of host cells with tunicamycin decreased SADS-CoV attachment efficiency, indicating that N-linked glycosylation of host cells was involved in SADS-CoV entry. Common N-linked sugars Neu5Gc and Neu5Ac did not interact with the SADS-CoV S1 protein, suggesting that these molecules were not involved in SADS-CoV entry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Bats harbor a variety of coronaviruses (SARSr-CoVs) that can infect humans, but these viruses don't replicate well in regular mice.
  • Researchers created a mouse-adapted strain of one such virus, SMA1901, which was able to infect and damage lungs in both young and old mice, showing symptoms similar to SARS and COVID-19.
  • The creation of the SMA1901 strain, with its unique mutations, provides a valuable animal model for testing antiviral drugs and understanding how these bat coronaviruses could affect humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the most severe emerging infectious disease in the current century. The discovery of SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoV-2) in bats and pangolins in South Asian countries indicates that SARS-CoV-2 likely originated from wildlife. To date, two SARSr-CoV-2 strains have been isolated from pangolins seized in Guangxi and Guangdong by the customs agency of China, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The spike protein on sarbecovirus virions contains two external, protruding domains: an N-terminal domain (NTD) with unclear function and a C-terminal domain (CTD) that binds the host receptor, allowing for viral entry and infection. While the CTD is well studied for therapeutic interventions, the role of the NTD is far less well understood for many coronaviruses. Here, we demonstrate that the spike NTD from SARS-CoV-2 and other sarbecoviruses binds to unidentified glycans similarly to other members of the family.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 have caused significant pandemics and are linked to diverse coronaviruses in bats that can potentially infect humans.
  • An inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was tested for its effectiveness against related bat coronaviruses (rWIV1 and rRsSHC014S) in mice, showing full protection against rWIV1 and partial protection against rRsSHC014S.
  • The study emphasizes the urgent need for a broad-spectrum vaccine to prepare for future threats from various SARS-related coronaviruses due to their genetic diversity and capacity for cross-species infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

• SARS-CoV-2 cannot use fish ACE2 to entry cells. • Fish cell lines (EPC, CIK, BF-2) were not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. • Proper disinfection of frozen food surfaces could prevent cold-chain transimission of SARS-CoV-2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Severe respiratory disease coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been the most devastating disease COVID-19 in the century. One of the unsolved scientific questions of SARS-CoV-2 is the animal origin of this virus. Bats and pangolins are recognized as the most probable reservoir hosts that harbour highly similar SARS-CoV-2 related viruses (SARSr-CoV-2).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is the causative agent of a severe respiratory disease with a high mortality of ~ 35%. The lack of approved treatments for MERS-CoV infection underscores the need for a user-friendly system for rapid drug screening. In this study, we constructed a MERS-CoV replicon containing the Renilla luciferase (Rluc) reporter gene and a stable luciferase replicon-carrying cell line.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF