Evolutionary remodelling of N-terminal domain loops fine-tunes SARS-CoV-2 spike.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has exacerbated the COVID-19 global health crisis. Thus far, all variants carry mutations in the spike glycoprotein, which is a critical determinant of viral transmission being responsible for attachment, receptor engagement and membrane fusion, and an important target of immunity. Variants frequently bear truncations of flexible loops in the N-terminal domain (NTD) of spike; the functional importance of these modifications has remained poorly characterised. We demonstrate that NTD deletions are important for efficient entry by the Alpha and Omicron variants and that this correlates with spike stability. Phylogenetic analysis reveals extensive NTD loop length polymorphisms across the sarbecoviruses, setting an evolutionary precedent for loop remodelling

SUBMITTER: Diego Cantoni 

PROVIDER: S-SCDT-EMBOR-2021-54322V1 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other