Human coronavirus HKU1
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''Human coronavirus HKU1'' (''HCoV-HKU1'') is a species of coronavirus in humans and animals. It causes an upper respiratory disease with symptoms of the common cold, but can advance to
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
and
bronchiolitis Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the small airways in the lungs. Acute bronchiolitis is due to a viral infection usually affecting children younger than two years of age. Symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, wheezing, and breathing ...
. It was first discovered in January 2004 from one man in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
. Subsequent research revealed it has global distribution and earlier genesis. The virus is an enveloped,
positive-sense In molecular biology and genetics, the sense of a nucleic acid molecule, particularly of a strand of DNA or RNA, refers to the nature of the roles of the strand and its complement in specifying a sequence of amino acids. Depending on the context ...
,
single-stranded When referring to DNA transcription, the coding strand (or informational strand) is the DNA strand whose base sequence is identical to the base sequence of the RNA transcript produced (although with thymine replaced by uracil). It is this stra ...
RNA virus which enters its host cell by binding to the N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid receptor. It has the
Hemagglutinin esterase Hemagglutinin esterase (HEs) is a glycoprotein that certain enveloped viruses possess and use as an invading mechanism. HEs helps in the attachment and destruction of certain sialic acid receptors that are found on the host cell surface. Vi ...
(HE) gene, which distinguishes it as a member of the genus ''
Betacoronavirus ''Betacoronavirus'' (β-CoVs or Beta-CoVs) is one of four genera (''Alpha''-, ''Beta-'', '' Gamma-'', and '' Delta-'') of coronaviruses. Member viruses are enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses that infect mammals (of which humans are part). ...
'' and subgenus ''
Embecovirus ''Embecovirus'' is a subgenus of coronaviruses in the genus ''Betacoronavirus''. The viruses in this subgenus, unlike other coronaviruses, have a hemagglutinin esterase (HE) gene. The viruses in the subgenus were previously known as group 2a coro ...
''.


History

HCoV-HKU1 was first detected in January 2004, in a 71-year-old man who was hospitalized due to acute respiratory distress syndrome and radiographically confirmed
bilateral pneumonia Pneumonia can be classified in several ways, most commonly by where it was acquired (hospital versus community), but may also by the area of lung affected or by the causative organism. There is also a combined clinical classification, which combi ...
. The man had recently returned to Hong Kong from Shenzhen, China.


Virology

Woo and coworkers were unsuccessful in their attempts to grow a HCoV-HKU1 isolate but were able to obtain the complete genomic sequence.
Phylogenetic analysis In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
showed that HKU1 is most closely related to the
mouse hepatitis virus Murine coronavirus (M-CoV) is a virus in the genus ''Betacoronavirus'' that infects mice. Belonging to the subgenus ''Embecovirus'', murine coronavirus strains are enterotropic or polytropic. Enterotropic strains include mouse hepatitis virus (M ...
(MHV), and is distinct in that regard from other known human
betacoronaviruses ''Betacoronavirus'' (β-CoVs or Beta-CoVs) is one of four genera ('' Alpha''-, ''Beta-'', '' Gamma-'', and '' Delta-'') of coronaviruses. Member viruses are enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses that infect mammals (of which humans are part ...
, such as HCoV-OC43. When the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp),
spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
(S), and nucleocapsid (N) genes were analyzed, incompatible phylogenetic relationships were discovered. Complete genome sequencing of 22 strains of HCoV-HKU1 confirmed this was due to natural recombination. HCoV-HKU1 likely originated from
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
s. HCoV-HKU1 is one of seven known coronaviruses to infect humans. The other six are: * Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) * Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) * Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) * Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) * Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) * Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) The structures of HCoV-HKU1 spike (S) and
hemagglutinin esterase Hemagglutinin esterase (HEs) is a glycoprotein that certain enveloped viruses possess and use as an invading mechanism. HEs helps in the attachment and destruction of certain sialic acid receptors that are found on the host cell surface. Vi ...
(HE) proteins have been resolved by
Cryo-EM Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a cryomicroscopy technique applied on samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An aqueous sample so ...
in 2016 and 2020, respectively. The S protein () has been noted for its large size. The HE protein () differs from conventional ones (such as the one in OC43) by having a much smaller vestigial lectin domain. This domain is shielded from recognition by the immune system via size changes and glycosylation.


Epidemiology

A trace-back analysis of SARS negative nasopharyngeal aspirates from patients with respiratory illness during the SARS period in 2003, identified the presence of CoV-HKU1 RNA in the sample from a 35-year-old woman with pneumonia. Following the initial reports of the discovery of HCoV-HKU1, the virus was identified that same year in 10 patients in
northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Queensland that lie p ...
. Respiratory samples were collected between May and August (winter in Australia). Investigators found that most of the HCoV-HKU1–positive samples originated from children in the later winter months. The first known cases in the Western hemisphere were discovered in 2005 after analysing older specimens by clinical virologists at
Yale-New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned and operated by the Yale New Haven Health System. YNHH includes the 168-bed Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, the 201-bed Yale New Have ...
in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
who were curious to discover if HCoV-HKU1 was in their area. They conducted a study of specimens collected in a 7-week period (December 2001 – February 2002) in 851 infants and children. Specimens of nine children had human coronavirus HKU1. These children had respiratory tract infections at the time the specimens were collected (in one girl so severe that mechanical ventilation was needed), while testing negative for other causes like
Human respiratory syncytial virus Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), also called human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) and human orthopneumovirus, is a common, contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract. It is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. ...
(RSV), parainfluenza viruses (types 1–3), influenza A and B viruses, and adenovirus by direct immunofluorescence assay as well as
human metapneumovirus ''Human metapneumovirus'' (HMPV) is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family ''Pneumoviridae'' and is closely related to the '' Avian metapneumovirus'' (AMPV) subgroup C. It was isolated for the first time in 2001 in the Netherla ...
and HCoV-NH by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The researchers reported that the strains identified in New Haven were similar to the strain found in Hong Kong and suggested a worldwide distribution. These strains found in New Haven is not to be confused with ''HCoV-NH'' (New Haven coronavirus), which is a strain of
Human coronavirus NL63 Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...
. In July 2005, six cases were reported in France. In these cases, French investigators utilized improved techniques for recovering the virus from nasopharyngeal aspirates and from stool samples.


See also

*
Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 ''Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4'' (''Bat-CoV HKU4'') is an enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus mammalian Group 2 ''Betacoronavirus'' that has been found to be genetically related to the '' Middle East respiratory syndrome-rela ...
*
Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9 ''Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9'' (''HKU9-1'') is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA mammalian Group 2 ''Betacoronavirus'' discovered in ''Rousettus'' bats in China in 2011. This strain of coronavirus is closely related to the EM ...


References


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q16983360 Betacoronaviruses