SARS-CoV-2 peptide fragments selectively dysregulate specific immune cell populations via Gaussian curvature targeting.

ABSTRACT: Immune cell populations are dysregulated in COVID-19 for currently unknown reasons: Plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) populations are reduced, thus hampering antiviral responses. CD8⁺ T cell populations are reduced, the level of which has emerged as an index of disease severity. Recent work has shown that the proteome of SARS-CoV-2 is a rich reservoir of antimicrobial peptide-like sequence motifs (xenoAMPs) which can chaperone and organize dsRNA for amplified Toll-Like Receptor 3 (TLR3)-mediated inflammation in vitro and in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that proteolytic digestion of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by host trypsin-like serine proteases directly produces xenoAMPs. Synchrotron Small Angle X-ray Scattering, mass spectrometry, and a theoretical analysis based on continuum

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12799121 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature