The following key terms and abbreviations will be used throughout this course:
Coronaviruses (CoVs): Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a large family of related RNA viruses that cause illness in mammals and birds.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): The national public health agency of the United States under the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Updates on all aspects of the COVID-19 infection are available from the CDC.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2): ACE2 is an enzyme on the surface of many cells and plays a major role in controlling blood pressure and blocking organ damage. The coronavirus spike protein (S) binds to the receptor for ACE2 and is the first step leading to viral infection. The binding of the CoV to the ACE2 receptors prevents ACE2 from functioning normally, thereby causing tissue damage.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS): SARS is a viral respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus.
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS): MERS is a viral respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus and was first reported in Saudi Arabia. It is thought to have been transmitted initially from infected camels to humans.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): COVID-19 is an acute respiratory viral infection first transmitted by a coronavirus in December 2019. It is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 and has led to a severe pandemic worldwide.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus causing COVID-19. The two terms, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, are often used interchangeably to describe the same coronavirus infection. This course will commonly use these terms interchangeably.
RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp): RdRP is the key enzyme involved in the synthesis of RNA in coronaviruses. The antiviral drug Remdesivir acts to inhibit the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of the coronavirus to stall RNA synthesis, eventually making the virus inactive.
Emergency use authorization (EUA): Used by the FDA in a declared emergency such as a pandemic to authorize a product, treatment, or test usage quickly and without going through a full and complete review process.
Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs): A method that detects a particular nucleic acid sequence for the identification of a particular species or subspecies of an organism, such as a virus or bacterium. The nucleic acid sequence is either from RNA or DNA contained in the suspected organism.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): A standard molecular technique used to make multiple copies of a segment of DNA. PCR is very precise and can be used to amplify (copy) a specific DNA target from a mixture of DNA molecules
Reverse Transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR): A variation of the PCR technique in which RNA is used as a template to reverse transcribe the RNA into complementary DNA (cDNA) followed by amplification of the specific DNA targets.
Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR): This is a variation of RT-PCR that uses a fluorescent label technique that enables the detection of PCR products in real time and is commonly used for the analysis of gene expression.
Enzyme immunoassay (EIA): An immunoassay that uses an enzyme as a detection label.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA): A popular commonly-used EIA method that is a solid-phase immunoassay system using a plate-based assay which has the targeted antigen immobilized on a solid surface or microplate and is then complexed with an antibody linked to a reporter enzyme.
Sandwich ELISA: A widely used ELISA format that indirectly immobilizes and indirectly detects the presence of the target antigen. The technique is termed “sandwich” because the analyte or antigen to be measured is bound between two primary antibodies: capture antibody and detection antibody.
Chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA): A type of immunoassay similar to the ELISA technique, except it uses a different reporter or detector label to indicate the analytical reaction. CLIA uses chemiluminescence, which produces electromagnetic radiation that is measured as light.
Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA): A form of the immunoassay technique in which a liquid sample proceeds laterally along the surface of a pad that contains reactive molecules that bind to the targeted analyte and then migrate along the pad into a detection zone.
Point-of-care (POC) tests: Tests that are performed at or near the location where the specimen is collected, and results of the testing can usually be obtained within minutes rather than hours or several days
Copan universal transport medium (UTM) or CDC’s viral transport medium (VTM): Copan UTM is an FDA-cleared universal transport medium system for the transport, preservation, and storage of clinical specimens containing viruses for molecular diagnostic testing. The CDC’s VTM is a standard operating procedure for producing viral transport medium for specimens for viral culture or other viral detection.
