Viral Entry -- Cellular Entry of the SARS Coronavirus: Implications for Transmission, Pathogenicity and Antiviral Strategies -- The Cell Biology of the SARS Coronavirus Receptor, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 -- Structural Molecular Insights into SARS Coronavirus Cellular Attachment, Entry and Morphogenesis -- Structures Involved in Viral Replication and Gene Expression -- RNA Higher-Order Structures Within the Coronavirus 5? and 3? Untranslated Regions and Their Roles in Viral Replication -- Programmed –1 Ribosomal Frameshifting in SARS Coronavirus -- Viral Proteins -- Expression and Functions of SARS Coronavirus Replicative Proteins -- SARS Coronavirus Replicative Enzymes: Structures and Mechanisms -- Quaternary Structure of the SARS Coronavirus Main Protease -- The Nucleocapsid Protein of the SARS Coronavirus: Structure, Function and Therapeutic Potential -- SARS Coronavirus Accessory Gene Expression and Function -- SARS Accessory Proteins ORF3a and 9b and Their Functional Analysis -- Molecular and Biochemical Characterization of the SARS-CoV Accessory Proteins ORF8a, ORF8b and ORF8ab -- Viral pathogenesis and host immune response -- SARS Coronavirus Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Treatment Design -- Modulation of Host Cell Death by SARS Coronavirus Proteins -- SARS Coronavirus and Lung Fibrosis -- Host Immune Responses to SARS Coronavirus in Humans -- The Use of Retroviral Pseudotypes for the Measurement of Antibody Responses to SARS Coronavirus -- SARS Coronavirus Spike Protein Expression in HL-CZ Human Promonocytic Cells: Monoclonal Antibody and Cellular Transcriptomic Analyses -- Signaling Pathways of SARS-CoV In Vitro and In Vivo.

The SARS outbreak in 2002 caused unprecedented devastation and exhibited unusually high rates of morbidity and mortality. For the SARS coronavirus, the transmission vehicle was man. What added to the spread was man’s convenient, rapid and affordable ways of travel that caused the virus to spread globally in a short span of time. The SARS coronavirus jumped the species barrier, similar to many recent zoonotic diseases – avian flu, swine flu, Nipah and encephalitis virus. It is extremely important for us to understand the enemy before it strikes again in order to be able to combat such outbreaks as and when they occur. Molecular mechanisms that the virus exploits within its host and that result in infection and pathogenesis are the key to being able to block its transmission cycle. In this book, leading scientists from around the globe have discussed molecular aspects of viral entry, replication, viral gene expression, pathogenesis and host immune response against the SARS coronavirus.