Advances in MERS-CoV Vaccines and Therapeutics Based on the Receptor-Binding Domain

Advances in MERS-CoV Vaccines and Therapeutics Based on the Receptor-Binding Domain

Yusen Zhou, Yang Yang, Jingwei Huang, Shibo Jiang, Lanying Du

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an infectious virus that was first reported in 2012. The MERS-CoV genome encodes four major structural proteins, among which the spike (S) protein has a key role in viral infection and pathogenesis. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the S protein contains a critical neutralizing domain and is an important target for development of MERS vaccines and therapeutics. In this review, we describe the relevant features of the MERS-CoV S-protein RBD, summarize recent advances in the development of MERS-CoV RBD-based vaccines and therapeutic antibodies, and illustrate potential challenges and strategies to further improve their efficacy.

2019

coronavirus, MERS-CoV, spike protein, receptor-binding domain, vaccines, therapeutics

DOI: 10.3390/v11010060

Viruses

MDPI AG

Microbiology

EN