Positive residues of the SARS-CoV-2 fusion domain are key contributors to the initiation of membrane fusion.

ABSTRACT: SARS-CoV-2 is one of the most infectious viruses ever recorded. Despite a plethora of research over the last several years, the viral life cycle is still not well understood, particularly membrane fusion. This process is initiated by the fusion domain (FD), a highly conserved stretch of amino acids consisting of a fusion peptide (FP) and fusion loop (FL), which in synergy perturbs the target cells' lipid membrane to lower the energetic cost necessary for fusion. In this study, through a mutagenesis-based approach, we have investigated the basic residues within the FD (K825, K835, R847, K854) utilizing an in vitro fusion assay and ¹⁹F NMR, validated by traditional ¹³C ¹⁵N techniques. Alanine and charge-conserving mutants revealed every basic residue plays a

SUBMITTER: Birtles D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11357847 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature