Allosteric perspective on the mutability and druggability of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein.

ABSTRACT: Recent developments in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic point to its inevitable transformation into an endemic disease, urging both refinement of diagnostics for emerging variants of concern (VOCs) and design of variant-specific drugs in addition to vaccine adjustments. Exploring the structure and dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, we argue that the high-mutability characteristic of RNA viruses coupled with the remarkable flexibility and dynamics of viral proteins result in a substantial involvement of allosteric mechanisms. While allosteric effects of mutations should be considered in predictions and diagnostics of new VOCs, allosteric drugs advantageously avoid escape mutations via non-competitive inhibition originating from alternative distal locations. The exhaustive allosteric signaling

SUBMITTER: Tan ZW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8772014 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature