SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious respiratory disease causing thousands of deaths and overwhelming public health systems. The international spread of SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the ease of global travel, and societal dynamics, immunologic naiveté of the host population, and muted innate immune responses. Based on these factors and the expanding geographic scale of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic–the first caused by a coronavirus. In this review, we summarize the current epidemiological status of COVID-19 and consider the virological and immunological lessons, animal models, and tools developed in response to prior SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV outbreaks that can serve as resources for development of SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics and vaccines. In particular, we discuss structural insights into the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, a major determinant of transmissibility, and discuss key molecular aspects that will aid in understanding and fighting this new global threat.

SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) 会导致 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19)，这是一种传染性呼吸道疾病，导致数千人死亡，并使公共卫生系统不堪重负。 SARS-CoV-2 的国际传播与全球旅行的便利性、社会动态、宿主人群的免疫天真以及先天免疫反应减弱有关。基于这些因素以及疾病不断扩大的地理范围，世界卫生组织 (WHO) 宣布 COVID-19 疫情为大流行病，这是首次由冠状病毒引起的大流行病。在这篇综述中，我们总结了当前 COVID-19 的流行病学状况，并考虑了为应对先前 SARS-CoV 和 MERS-CoV 爆发而开发的病毒学和免疫学教训、动物模型和工具，这些可以作为 SARS-CoV 开发的资源。 CoV-2 疗法和疫苗。特别是，我们讨论了对 SARS-CoV-2 刺突蛋白（传播性的主要决定因素）的结构见解，并讨论了有助于理解和应对这一新的全球威胁的关键分子方面。