COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV) Research - Latest Insights & Products

The ongoing coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, SARS-CoV-2 (or 2019-nCoV), a β-coronavirus that has crossed species barriers to infect humans [1, 2]. A similar disease was provoked in the past by two other β-coronaviruses, SARS-CoV in 2002 [3] and MERS-CoV in 2012 [4].
SARS-CoV-2 is a single-stranded RNA virus encoding a variety of proteins, including 4 structural proteins. Membrane/Matrix (M), Envelope (E), and Spike (S) proteins assemble around the Nucleocapsid (N) and RNA. SARS-CoV-2 infects host cells upon binding to angiotensin I-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor and subsequent action of proteases, including the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2). SARS-CoV-2  exhibits a high infectious rate and can provoke a wide array of symptoms.
This is the third outbreak due to a highly-pathogenic β-coronavirus in only two decades. Therefore, there is a tremendous need to acquire in-depth knowledge of the virus infection cycle as well as the cellular pathways involved in the viral replication and the mounting of innate and adaptive immune responses. Answers to these fundamental questions will help in the development of safe and efficient therapeutics and vaccines.

InvivoGen offers an expanding set of tools to foster research on SARS-CoV-2 infection and immune responses:

InvivoGen’s products are for research use only, and not for clinical or veterinary use.

References

1. Zhu, N. et al. 2020. A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med 382, 727-733.
2. https://www.who.int/
3. Drosten C. et al., 2003. Identification of a novel coronavirus in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. N. Engl. J. Med. 348:1967-1976.
4. De Groot R.J. et al., 2013. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV): announcement of the coronavirus study group. J Virol. 87(14):7790-7792.