224
T. Zhang et al.
March 2020. Currently, however, there is no universal antiviral treatment and vaccine
against SARS-CoV-2 infection. A large number of scholars dedicated themselves to
developing efficient and rapid diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19.
It is reported that COVID-19 infects human respiratory epithelial cells through
the same receptor as SARS-CoV, namely angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2)
[78]. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S)
can interact with ACE2 at the host, so the RBD is regarded as a key target for
the diagnosis and treatment of NCP. In January 2020, Ying et al. [74] in Fudan
University, China reported a human monoclonal antibody CR3022, which could
bind with SARS-CoV-2 RBD specifically. They expressed and purified both SARSCoV-2 RBD protein and several representative SARS-CoV-specific antibodies that
had been reported to target RBD including m396, CR3014, CR3022 and m336. Then
they measured their binding ability to 2019-nCoV RBD by ELISA and BLI. The K d
of CR3022 showed the best affinity, as low as 6.2 nM (Fig. 8.7a). The result proved
that the selected antibody CR3022 has great potential to be the candidate therapy
and treatment for 2019-nCoV infections.
Compared to antibody, aptamers have smaller size and thus they will suffer less
steric hindrance on the surface of coronavirus. Furthermore, aptamers can be chemically synthesized with lower manufacturing cost. Song group [75] pioneered to
screen the aptamers of SARS-CoV-2 RBD by identifying the binding affinity of
the aptamers toward SARS-CoV-2. The result showed that the K d values of the
optimized nCoV-RBD-1C and nCoV-RBD-4C aptamers against RBD were 5.8 and
19.9 nM, respectively (Fig. 8.7b–e). These two aptamers provide new probes for the
recognition of SARS-CoV-2, and may contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of
COVID-19.
8.4 Parasitic Infectious Disease
8.4.1 Malaria
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic infection that primarily occurs in children
under the age of five, pregnant women, and patients with HIV/AIDS as well as
non-immune individuals [79]. Typical presentations of malaria are severe anemia,
metabolic acidosis and cerebral malaria. WHO reported that there were 228 million
cases of malaria occurring worldwide of which 405,000 deaths were caused in
2018 [80]. Besides, a total of 2.7 billion dollars was invested in malaria control
and elimination by governments around the world in 2018.
In humans, malaria is caused by five distinct Plasmodium species, namely
P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, P. knowlesi, and two sub-species of Plasmodium
ovale (P. o. curtisi and P. o. wallikeri) [81]. Of these, P. falciform causes the most
severe disease which is responsible for the massive burden of global mortality and
morbidity. Such infection in humans stems from the injection of sporozoites mosquito
T. Zhang et al.
March 2020. Currently, however, there is no universal antiviral treatment and vaccine
against SARS-CoV-2 infection. A large number of scholars dedicated themselves to
developing efficient and rapid diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19.
It is reported that COVID-19 infects human respiratory epithelial cells through
the same receptor as SARS-CoV, namely angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2)
[78]. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S)
can interact with ACE2 at the host, so the RBD is regarded as a key target for
the diagnosis and treatment of NCP. In January 2020, Ying et al. [74] in Fudan
University, China reported a human monoclonal antibody CR3022, which could
bind with SARS-CoV-2 RBD specifically. They expressed and purified both SARSCoV-2 RBD protein and several representative SARS-CoV-specific antibodies that
had been reported to target RBD including m396, CR3014, CR3022 and m336. Then
they measured their binding ability to 2019-nCoV RBD by ELISA and BLI. The K d
of CR3022 showed the best affinity, as low as 6.2 nM (Fig. 8.7a). The result proved
that the selected antibody CR3022 has great potential to be the candidate therapy
and treatment for 2019-nCoV infections.
Compared to antibody, aptamers have smaller size and thus they will suffer less
steric hindrance on the surface of coronavirus. Furthermore, aptamers can be chemically synthesized with lower manufacturing cost. Song group [75] pioneered to
screen the aptamers of SARS-CoV-2 RBD by identifying the binding affinity of
the aptamers toward SARS-CoV-2. The result showed that the K d values of the
optimized nCoV-RBD-1C and nCoV-RBD-4C aptamers against RBD were 5.8 and
19.9 nM, respectively (Fig. 8.7b–e). These two aptamers provide new probes for the
recognition of SARS-CoV-2, and may contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of
COVID-19.
8.4 Parasitic Infectious Disease
8.4.1 Malaria
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic infection that primarily occurs in children
under the age of five, pregnant women, and patients with HIV/AIDS as well as
non-immune individuals [79]. Typical presentations of malaria are severe anemia,
metabolic acidosis and cerebral malaria. WHO reported that there were 228 million
cases of malaria occurring worldwide of which 405,000 deaths were caused in
2018 [80]. Besides, a total of 2.7 billion dollars was invested in malaria control
and elimination by governments around the world in 2018.
In humans, malaria is caused by five distinct Plasmodium species, namely
P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, P. knowlesi, and two sub-species of Plasmodium
ovale (P. o. curtisi and P. o. wallikeri) [81]. Of these, P. falciform causes the most
severe disease which is responsible for the massive burden of global mortality and
morbidity. Such infection in humans stems from the injection of sporozoites mosquito