Study reveals characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

Date:
July 29, 2021
Source:
University of Kentucky
Summary:
A new study provides foundational information about SARS-CoV-2's
spike protein.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new University of Kentucky College of Medicine study published in the
Journal of Biological Chemistryprovides foundational information about SARS-CoV-2's spike protein.


==========================================================================
The spike protein is found on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that
causes COVID-19, and is responsible for its entry into host cells. Because
of this function, it is the focus of most COVID-19 vaccines including
the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines.

"The spike protein represents one of the most important therapeutic
targets for COVID-19," said study lead Becky Dutch, vice dean for research
in the College of Medicine and chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.

"This study gives scientists a more comprehensive understanding of how
the protein works, which is significant to the continued development
of vaccines and therapeutics." Dutch's study provides insight into
how stable the spike protein is, how it promotes cell-to-cell fusion
and how it is modified. Her team examined the effect of mutations in
clinical isolates of the virus on protein stability and function. They
also observed spike protein synthesis and processing in bat cells to
understand if any differences were observed.

The study found that the majority of the spike protein degrades within 24 hours, which provides more understanding about the process of infection
and vaccination. Since mRNA vaccines work by giving instructions to our
cells to make the spike protein, this finding gives insight into how
long the newly made protein will be present.

Dutch's team also examined the role of key host factors in cell-to-cell
fusion.

In addition to binding the virus to target cells, the spike protein
can cause fusion between the cell it is made in and a neighboring cell,
an effect seen in the lungs of COVID-19 patients.

Dutch says there has been relatively little research done on the spike protein's cell-to-cell fusion or stability, so the study will contribute
to giving researchers a full picture of how the proteins are made and
how they function.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Kentucky. Original
written by Elizabeth Chapin. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Chelsea T. Barrett, Hadley E. Neal, Kearstin Edmonds, Carole
L. Moncman,
Rachel Thompson, Jean M. Branttie, Kerri Beth Boggs, Cheng-Yu Wu,
Daisy W. Leung, Rebecca E. Dutch. Effect of clinical isolate or
cleavage site mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on protein
stability, cleavage, and cell-cell fusion. Journal of Biological
Chemistry, 2021; 297 (1): 100902 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100902 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210729122126.htm

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