Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39690420›Full record

ArticleBMC genomic data2024

Pre-pandemic artificial MERS analog of polyfunctional SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 furin cleavage site domain is unique among spike proteins of genus Betacoronavirus.

Andreas Martin Lisewski

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC genomic data, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Evaluation of a proposed link between the SARS-CoV-2 furin cleavage site and mouse-adapted MERS-coronavirus MA30.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Andreas Martin LisewskiSchool of Science, Constructor University, 28759, Bremen, Germany. alisewski@constructor.university.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesSARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein furin cleavage site is a key determinant of SARS-CoV-2 virulence and COVID-19 pathogencity. Located at the S1/S2 junction, it is unique among sarbecoviruses but frequently found among betacoronaviruses. Recent evidence suggests that this site includes two additional functional motifs: a pat7 nuclear localization signal and two flanking O-glycosites. However, a systematic genus and subgenus analysis of spike protein sequences bearing this polyfunctional sequence domain has been missing. DATA DESCRIPTION: Here we report comprehensive sequence data to demonstrate that among spike proteins of genus Betacoronavirus and outside of the SARS-CoV-2 clade a fully analogous S1/S2 domain was found in only one other virus: the artificial MERS infectious clone MERS-MA30, described already in 2017, which was rationally selected from serial passage in genetically humanized mice. As the evolutionarily closest betacoronaviruses outside of the SARS-CoV-2 clade lack all its three functional motifs, these data extend-beyond natural evolution and zoonosis-the current view on SARS-CoV-2 pre-pandemic origins by presenting the analogous S1/S2 MERS-MA30 sequence domain as a precise molecular blueprint for SARS-CoV-2.

Indexed as

FurinSARS-CoV-2Spike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusAmino Acid SequenceAnimalsHumansMiceMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronavirusPhylogenyProtein DomainsFurinSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirusspike protein, SARS-CoV-2Artificial virus hostBetacoronavirusDirected evolutionFurin cleavage siteGenomicsNuclear localization signalO-glycosylation

Identifiers

PMID39690420
PMCPMC11650820

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.