The causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has been identified as SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), but the prophylactic treatment of SARS-CoV is still under investigation. We constructed a recombinant adenovirus containing a truncated N-terminal fragment of the SARS-CoV Spike (S) gene (from--45 to 1469, designated Ad-S(N)), which encoded a truncated S protein (490 amino-acid residues, a part of 672 amino-acid S1 subunit), and investigated whether this construct could induce effective immunity against SARS-CoV in Wistar rats. Rats were immunized either subcutaneously or intranasally with Ad-S(N) once a week for three consecutive weeks. Our results showed that all of the immunized animals generated humoral immunity against the SARS-CoV spike protein, and the sera of immunized rats showed strong capable of protecting from SARS-CoV infection in vitro. Histopathological examination did not find evident side effects in the immunized animals. These results indicate that an adenoviral-based vaccine carrying an N-terminal fragment of the Spike gene is able to elicit strong SARS-CoV-specific humoral immune responses in rats, and may be useful for the development of a protective vaccine against SARS-CoV infection.

PSH050513 has been tentatively identified as a novel member of group 3 coronaviruses that have close genetic relationships with IBV strains.

SARS-CoV seemed to elicit effective humoral immunity but inhibited cellular immunity, especially CD8+ memory T lymphocytes over time. Prolonged overproduction of IL-10 and TGF-beta may play an important role in the disease.

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is a widely distributed virus. HSV-1 is a growing public health concern due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains and the current lack of a clinically specific drug for treatment. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the development of peptide antivirals. Natural host-defense peptides which have uniquely evolved to protect the host have been reported to have antiviral properties. Cathelicidins are a family of multi-functional antimicrobial peptides found in almost all vertebrate species and play a vital role in the immune system. In this study, we demonstrated the anti-HSV-1 effect of an antiviral peptide named WL-1 derived from human cathelicidin. We found that WL-1 inhibited HSV-1 infection in epithelial and neuronal cells. Furthermore, the administration of WL-1 improved the survival rate and reduced viral load and inflammation during HSV-1 infection via ocular scarification. Moreover, facial nerve dysfunction, involving the abnormal blink reflex, nose position, and vibrissae movement, and pathological injury were prevented when HSV-1 ear inoculation-infected mice were treated with WL-1. Together, our findings demonstrate that WL-1 may be a potential novel antiviral agent against HSV-1 infection-induced facial palsy.