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Updated: Dec 13, 2025

Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2
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Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2

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The Novel Insight of SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Options

Arghavan Asghari1, Mohsen Naseri2, Hamidreza Safari3

  • 1Student Research Committee and Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

DNA and Cell Biology
|July 28, 2020
PubMed

Insights

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious virus with human-to-human transmission. Research is urgently needed to understand its pathogenesis and identify therapeutic targets for disease control.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Emerging Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • The World Health Organization announced a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, on December 31, 2019, in Wuhan.
  • COVID-19 is the third highly infective coronavirus (CoV) identified, with a 2% mortality rate, lower than MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV.
  • Coronaviruses are positive-stranded RNA viruses prevalent in mammals, with the 2019-nCoV utilizing the ACE2 receptor, similar to SARS-CoV.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide an overview of the biological characteristics of coronaviruses.
  • To explain the pathogenesis of COVID-19.
  • To focus on therapeutic approaches and suggest potential targets for treating and monitoring this emerging zoonotic disease.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of common biological criteria of CoVs.
  • Analysis of pathogenesis mechanisms, including viral entry via ACE2.
  • Exploration of potential therapeutic strategies and targets.

Main Results:

  • Human-to-human transmission of 2019-nCoV has been confirmed.
  • Structural proteins play a key role in viral release and host cell budding.
  • No licensed antiviral drugs or vaccines are currently available for COVID-19.

Conclusions:

  • There is an urgent need for extensive research into CoV infections.
  • Understanding transmission routes, pathogenesis, and diagnosis is crucial for disease control.
  • Identifying therapeutic targets is essential for managing and monitoring emerging zoonotic diseases like COVID-19.

Keywords:
coronavirusesdiagnosisgenome structurepathogenesistreatment

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