Fig. 1: Identification of the functional RBD in merbecoviruses.
From: ACE2 from Pipistrellus abramus bats is a receptor for HKU5 coronaviruses
a The receptor binding domain in merbecoviruses engages the host receptor, DPP4 (PDB ID: 4L72, 5×59). Conserved glycines marking the functional RBD boundaries are indicated in yellow spheres. b Overview of MERS-CoV spike design for RBD replacement. c Chimeric spikes are used to generate single-cycle pseudotyped VSV reporter particles. d Overview of chimeric spike designs. e Amino acid sequence alignment of region flanking the RBD in merbecoviruses. f 293 T cell lines expressing indicated receptors were infected with pseudotypes and luciferase was measured for entry. Hashed bars represent chimeric spikes and solid bars represent full-length spikes as shown in panel (d). Cells were infected in quadruplicate as technical replicates. For each graph, individual replicates are plotted as points, the mean is shown as a bar and lines indicate standard deviation.
