The virus is found primarily in young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory illness. It also has a seasonal association in temperate climates. A study performed in Amsterdam estimated the presence of HCoV-NL63 in approximately 4.7% of common respiratory illnesses.[11] The natural reservoirs are palm civets and bats.[12] Estimates of its divergence from another coronavirus (HCoV-229E) are around 1000 years ago; it has likely circulated in humans for centuries.[13]
The evolution of HCoV-NL63 appears to have involved recombination between an ancestral NL63-like virus circulating in African Triaenops afer bats and a CoV 229E-like virus circulating in Hipposideros bats.[14] Recombinant viruses can arise when two viral genomes are present in the same host cell.
^"Taxon Details | ICTV". International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^"ACE2 angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 - Gene". NCBI. 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-03-21. The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the angiotensin-converting enzyme family of dipeptidyl carboxydipeptidases and has considerable homology to human angiotensin 1 converting enzyme. This secreted protein catalyzes the cleavage of angiotensin I into angiotensin 1-9, and angiotensin II into the vasodilator angiotensin 1-7. The organ- and cell-specific expression of this gene suggests that it may play a role in the regulation of cardiovascular and renal function, as well as fertility. In addition, the encoded protein is a functional receptor for the spike glycoprotein of the human coronavirus HCoV-NL63 and the human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 virus).
^Fehr AR, Perlman S (2015). "Coronaviruses: An Overview of Their Replication and Pathogenesis". In Maier HJ, Bickerton E, Britton P (eds.). Coronaviruses. Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol. 1282. Springer. pp. 1–23. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-2438-7_1. ISBN978-1-4939-2438-7. PMC4369385. PMID25720466.