SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins react with Au and Si, are electrically conductive and denature at 3 × 10⁸ V m^-1: a surface bonding and a single-protein circuit study.

ABSTRACT: Developing means to characterise SARS-CoV-2 and its new variants is critical for future outbreaks. SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins have peripheral disulfide bonds (S-S), which are common in all spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 variants, in other types of coronaviruses (e.g., SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) and are likely to be present in future coronaviruses. Here, we demonstrate that S-S bonds in the spike S1 protein of SARS-CoV-2 react with gold (Au) and silicon (Si) electrodes. Bonding to Si is induced by a spontaneous electrochemical reaction that involves oxidation of Si-H and the reduction of the S-S bonds. The reaction of the spike protein with Au enabled single-molecule protein circuits, by connecting the spike S1 protein between two Au nano-electrodes using the scanning tunnelling microscopy-

SUBMITTER: Dief EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10055994 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature