The Mechanisms and Animal Models of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has aroused great public health concern worldwide. Currently, COVID-19 epidemic is spreading in many countries and regions around the world. However, the study of SARS-CoV-2 is still in its infancy, and there is no specific therapeutics. Here, we summarize the genomic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we focus on the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including the roles of angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2) in cell entry, COVID-19 susceptibility and COVID-19 symptoms, as well as immunopathology such as antibody responses, lymphocyte dysregulation, and cytokine storm. Finally, we introduce the research progress of animal models of COVID-19, aiming at a better understanding of the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and providing new ideas for the treatment of this contagious disease.

Single‐dose immunisation with a multimerised SARS‐CoV‐2 receptor binding domain (RBD) induces an enhanced and protective response in mice

“…Replicating the robust neutralising antibody response and high level of protection achieved in mice from a single dose in primates and humans will be crucial, especially given that the hACE2 transgenic mouse model is not perfect. It does better recapitulate severe infection in humans than the Syrian hamster model but does not allow respiratory transmission [ 58 ]. The mouse model also has the advantage that it shows signs of neurological spread of the virus, something that is underappreciated in the human disease.…”

ACE2-Fc fusion protein overcomes viral escape by potently neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

“…Biologically, although the mechanism for SARS-CoV and -CoV-2 infection of humans has been studied in cell and animal models, many aspects of the disease are incompletely understood( Zhou et al, 2020 ; Jia et al, 2021 ) ,7 . All the data suggest that binding to Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor is a critical initial step for entry of SARS-CoV family members, including SARS-CoV and CoV-2, to target cells.…”

SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern Infect the Respiratory Tract and Induce Inflammatory Response in Wild-Type Laboratory Mice

“…SARS-CoV-2 infection begins with the viral particles binding to the receptors on the host cell surface. The RBD of the spike protein binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), present on the host cellular surfaces [3,8]. The RBD of the spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 strain (Wuhan strain, lineage B.1) that started the pandemic does not 2 of 10 efficiently bind mouse ACE-2, and therefore wild-type laboratory mice are not susceptible to infection with lineage B.1 virus [8][9][10][11][12].…”