Thermodynamic insight into viral infections 2: empirical formulas, molecular compositions and thermodynamic properties of SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viruses.

ABSTRACT: The current situation with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic indicates the importance of new approaches in vaccine design. In order to design new attenuated vaccines, to decrease virulence of virus wild types, it is important to understand what allows a virus to hijack its host cell's metabolism, a property of all viruses. RNA and protein sequences obtained from databases were used to count the number of atoms of each element in the virions of SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2. The number of protein copies and carbohydrate composition were taken from the literature. The number of lipid molecules was estimated from the envelope surface area. Based on elemental composition, growth equations were balanced, and thermodynamic properties of the viruses were determined using Patel-Erickson and Battley equations. E

SUBMITTER: Popovic M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7489929 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature