CNBP Binds and Unfolds In Vitro G-Quadruplexes Formed in the SARS-CoV-2 Positive and Negative Genome Strands.

ABSTRACT: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a global health emergency with no effective medical treatment and with incipient vaccines. It is caused by a new positive-sense RNA virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). G-quadruplexes (G4s) are nucleic acid secondary structures involved in the control of a variety of biological processes including viral replication. Using several G4 prediction tools, we identified highly putative G4 sequences (PQSs) within the positive-sense (+gRNA) and negative-sense (-gRNA) RNA strands of SARS-CoV-2 conserved in related betacoronaviruses. By using multiple biophysical techniques, we confirmed the formation of two G4s in the +gRNA and provide the first evidence of G4 formation by two PQSs in the -gRNA

SUBMITTER: Bezzi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7961906 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature