New virus uses protein handle to infect cells

Deadly coronavirus related to SARS attaches to molecule common to people, many animals

A new coronavirus that has sickened 14 people, killing eight of them, can slip into cells in many types of animals, a new study shows.

The new coronavirus latches onto a protein called dipeptidyl peptidase 4, or DPP4, which decorates the surface of many cells, including some in human airways and kidneys, Bart Haagmans of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues report in the March 14 Nature.