Patent ID: 8053222

Claim:
A recombinant protease comprising an amino acid sequence of a mutated severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus 3C-like protease (SARS-CoV 3CL pro ), which comprises G at a position corresponding to T 25 in the wild type SARS-CoV 3CL pro (SEQ ID NO:1), wherein the recombinant protease recognizes the cleavage site P 4 P 3 P 2 QP 1′ (SEQ ID NO:36) and cleaves between Q and P 1′ , in which each of P 4 and P 3 , independently, is A, V, G, L, or I; P 2 is L, V, or F; and P 1′ is G, A, V, L, I, S, T, M, C, D, E, Q, N, W, Y, or F, and wherein the amino acid sequence of the mutated SARS-CoV 3CL pro is at least 95% identical to SEQ ID NO:1.