Ezrin interacts with the SARS coronavirus Spike protein and restrains infection at the entry stage.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Entry of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and its envelope fusion with host cell membrane are controlled by a series of complex molecular mechanisms, largely dependent on the viral envelope glycoprotein Spike (S). There are still many unknowns on the implication of cellular factors that regulate the entry process.

Methodology/principal findings

We performed a yeast two-hybrid screen using as bait the carboxy-terminal endodomain of S, which faces the cytosol during and after opening of the fusion pore at early stages of the virus life cycle. Here we show that the ezrin membrane-actin linker interacts with S endodomain through the F1 lobe of its FERM domain and that both the eight carboxy-terminal amino-acids and a membrane-proximal cysteine

SUBMITTER: Millet JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3504146 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature