Infection of VeroB4 cells with MERS-CoV facilitated increased phosphorylation of SKP2 at S72 (Fig. 6a, Supplementary Fig. 3a), with a concomitant decrease of cellular levels of BECN1 (Fig. 6a, Supplementary Fig. 3b) and enhanced K48-polyubiquitinylation of BECN1 (Fig. 6b). This evidence concerns the gene SKP2 and infection.