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Li Y, Zheng P, Liu T, Shi C, Wang B, Xu Y, Jin T. Structural Requirements and Plasticity of Receptor-Binding Domain in Human Coronavirus Spike. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:930931. [PMID: 35903152 PMCID: PMC9315343 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.930931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The most recent human coronaviruses including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 causing severe respiratory tract infection and high pathogenicity bring significant global public health concerns. Infections are initiated by recognizing host cell receptors by coronavirus spike protein S1 subunit, and then S2 mediates membrane fusion. However, human coronavirus spikes undergo frequent mutation, which may result in diverse pathogenesis and infectivity. In this review, we summarize some of these recent structural and mutational characteristics of RBD of human coronavirus spike protein and their interaction with specific human cell receptors and analyze the structural requirements and plasticity of RBD. Stability of spike protein, affinity toward receptor, virus fitness, and infectivity are the factors controlling the viral tropisms. Thus, understanding the molecular details of RBDs and their mutations is critical in deciphering virus evolution. Structural information of spike and receptors of human coronaviruses not only reveals the molecular mechanism of host–microbe interaction and pathogenesis but also helps develop effective drug to control these infectious pathogens and cope with the future emerging coronavirus outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yajuan Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Peiyi Zheng
- Laboratory of Structural Immunology, CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Tingting Liu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Cuixiao Shi
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Bo Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Yuanhong Xu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Tengchuan Jin
- Laboratory of Structural Immunology, CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
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Oz M, Lorke DE. Multifunctional angiotensin converting enzyme 2, the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor, and critical appraisal of its role in acute lung injury. Biomed Pharmacother 2021; 136:111193. [PMID: 33461019 PMCID: PMC7836742 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.111193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The recent emergence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic affecting millions of individuals has raised great concern throughout the world, and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the causative agent for COVID-19. The multifunctional protein angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is accepted as its primary target for entry into host cells. In its enzymatic function, ACE2, like its homologue ACE, regulates the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) critical for cardiovascular and renal homeostasis in mammals. Unlike ACE, however, ACE2 drives an alternative RAS pathway by degrading Ang-II and thus operates to balance RAS homeostasis in the context of hypertension, heart failure, and cardiovascular as well as renal complications of diabetes. Outside the RAS, ACE2 hydrolyzes key peptides, such as amyloid-β, apelin, and [des-Arg9]-bradykinin. In addition to its enzymatic functions, ACE2 is found to regulate intestinal amino acid homeostasis and the gut microbiome. Although the non-enzymatic function of ACE2 as the entry receptor for SARS-CoV-2 has been well established, the contribution of enzymatic functions of ACE2 to the pathogenesis of COVID-19-related lung injury has been a matter of debate. A complete understanding of this central enzyme may begin to explain the various symptoms and pathologies seen in SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, and may aid in the development of novel treatments for COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murat Oz
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kuwait University, Safat 13110, Kuwait.
| | - Dietrich Ernst Lorke
- Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Center for Biotechnology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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mRNA induced expression of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in mice for the study of the adaptive immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16:e1009163. [PMID: 33326500 PMCID: PMC7773324 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Revised: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The novel human coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a pandemic. Critical to the rapid evaluation of vaccines and antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 is the development of tractable animal models to understand the adaptive immune response to the virus. To this end, the use of common laboratory strains of mice is hindered by significant divergence of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is the receptor required for entry of SARS-CoV-2. In the current study, we designed and utilized an mRNA-based transfection system to induce expression of the hACE2 receptor in order to confer entry of SARS-CoV-2 in otherwise non-permissive cells. By employing this expression system in an in vivo setting, we were able to interrogate the adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in type 1 interferon receptor deficient mice. In doing so, we showed that the T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 is enhanced when hACE2 is expressed during infection. Moreover, we demonstrated that these responses are preserved in memory and are boosted upon secondary infection. Importantly, using this system, we functionally identified the CD4+ and CD8+ structural peptide epitopes targeted during SARS-CoV-2 infection in H2b restricted mice and confirmed their existence in an established model of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. We demonstrated that, identical to what has been seen in humans, the antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in mice primarily target peptides of the spike and membrane proteins, while the antigen-specific CD4+ T cells target peptides of the nucleocapsid, membrane, and spike proteins. As the focus of the immune response in mice is highly similar to that of the humans, the identification of functional murine SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell epitopes provided in this study will be critical for evaluation of vaccine efficacy in murine models of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Milewska A, Falkowski K, Kulczycka M, Bielecka E, Naskalska A, Mak P, Lesner A, Ochman M, Urlik M, Diamandis E, Prassas I, Potempa J, Kantyka T, Pyrc K. Kallikrein 13 serves as a priming protease during infection by the human coronavirus HKU1. Sci Signal 2020; 13:13/659/eaba9902. [PMID: 33234691 PMCID: PMC7857416 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.aba9902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Unlike SARS-CoV-2, the human coronavirus HKU1 normally causes relatively mild respiratory tract infections; however, it shares with SARS-CoV-2 the mechanism of using its surface spike (S) protein to enter target cells. Because the host receptor for HCoV-HKU1 is unknown, efforts to study the virus in cell culture systems have proved difficult. Milewska et al. found that knockout of the protease kallikrein 13 (KLK13) in human airway epithelial cells blocked their infection by HCoV-HKU1, that overexpression of KLK13 in nonpermissive cells enabled their infection by the virus, and that KLK13 cleaved the viral S protein. Together, these findings suggest that KLK13 is a priming enzyme for viral entry and may help to establish cell lines that can facilitate further investigation of the mechanism of viral pathogenesis. Human coronavirus HKU1 (HCoV-HKU1) is associated with respiratory disease and is prevalent worldwide, but an in vitro model for viral replication is lacking. An interaction between the coronaviral spike (S) protein and its receptor is the primary determinant of tissue and host specificity; however, viral entry is a complex process requiring the concerted action of multiple cellular elements. Here, we found that the protease kallikrein 13 (KLK13) was required for the infection of human respiratory epithelial cells and was sufficient to mediate the entry of HCoV-HKU1 into nonpermissive RD cells. We also demonstrated the cleavage of the HCoV-HKU1 S protein by KLK13 in the S1/S2 region, suggesting that KLK13 is the priming enzyme for this virus. Together, these data suggest that protease distribution and specificity determine the tissue and cell specificity of the virus and may also regulate interspecies transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Milewska
- Virogenetics Laboratory of Virology, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.,Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Katherine Falkowski
- Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Magdalena Kulczycka
- Laboratory of Proteolysis and Post-translational Modification of Proteins, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Ewa Bielecka
- Laboratory of Proteolysis and Post-translational Modification of Proteins, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Antonina Naskalska
- Virogenetics Laboratory of Virology, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Pawel Mak
- Department of Analytical Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7 St., 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Adam Lesner
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Marek Ochman
- Department of Cardiac, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and Transplantology, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland
| | - Maciej Urlik
- Department of Cardiac, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and Transplantology, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland
| | - Elftherios Diamandis
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.,Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| | - Ioannis Prassas
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.,Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| | - Jan Potempa
- Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.,Centre for Oral Health and Systemic Diseases, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Tomasz Kantyka
- Laboratory of Proteolysis and Post-translational Modification of Proteins, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.,Broegelmann Research Laboratory, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway
| | - Krzysztof Pyrc
- Virogenetics Laboratory of Virology, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.
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Hassert M, Geerling E, Stone ET, Steffen TL, Dickson A, Feldman MS, Class J, Richner JM, Brien JD, Pinto AK. mRNA induced expression of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in mice for the study of the adaptive immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2020. [PMID: 32793909 DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.07.241877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The novel human coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a pandemic resulting in nearly 20 million infections across the globe, as of August 2020. Critical to the rapid evaluation of vaccines and antivirals is the development of tractable animal models of infection. The use of common laboratory strains of mice to this end is hindered by significant divergence of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is the receptor required for entry of SARS-CoV-2. In the current study, we designed and utilized an mRNA-based transfection system to induce expression of the hACE2 receptor in order to confer entry of SARS-CoV-2 in otherwise non-permissive cells. By employing this expression system in an in vivo setting, we were able to interrogate the adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in type 1 interferon receptor deficient mice. In doing so, we showed that the T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 is enhanced when hACE2 is expressed during infection. Moreover, we demonstrated that these responses are preserved in memory and are boosted upon secondary infection. Interestingly, we did not observe an enhancement of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody responses with hACE2 induction. Importantly, using this system, we functionally identified the CD4+ and CD8+ peptide epitopes targeted during SARS-CoV-2 infection in H2b restricted mice. Antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in mice of this MHC haplotype primarily target peptides of the spike and membrane proteins, while the antigen-specific CD4+ T cells target peptides of the nucleocapsid, membrane, and spike proteins. The functional identification of these T cell epitopes will be critical for evaluation of vaccine efficacy in murine models of SARS-CoV-2. The use of this tractable expression system has the potential to be used in other instances of emerging infections in which the rapid development of an animal model is hindered by a lack of host susceptibility factors.
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Human coronavirus NL63 utilizes heparan sulfate proteoglycans for attachment to target cells. J Virol 2014; 88:13221-30. [PMID: 25187545 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02078-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 212] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) is an alphacoronavirus that was first identified in 2004 in the nasopharyngeal aspirate from a 7-month-old patient with a respiratory tract infection. Previous studies showed that HCoV-NL63 and the genetically distant severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV employ the same receptor for host cell entry, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), but it is largely unclear whether ACE2 interactions are sufficient to allow HCoV-NL63 binding to cells. The present study showed that directed expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on cells previously resistant to HCoV-NL63 renders them susceptible, showing that ACE2 protein acts as a functional receptor and that its expression is required for infection. However, comparative analysis showed that directed expression or selective scission of the ACE2 protein had no measurable effect on virus adhesion. In contrast, binding of HCoV-NL63 to heparan sulfates was required for viral attachment and infection of target cells, showing that these molecules serve as attachment receptors for HCoV-NL63. IMPORTANCE ACE2 protein was proposed as a receptor for HCoV-NL63 already in 2005, but an in-depth analysis of early events during virus infection had not been performed thus far. Here, we show that the ACE2 protein is required for viral entry but that it is not the primary binding site on the cell surface. Conducted research showed that heparan sulfate proteoglycans function as adhesion molecules, increasing the virus density on cell surface and possibly facilitating the interaction between HCoV-NL63 and its receptor. Obtained results show that the initial events during HCoV-NL63 infection are more complex than anticipated and that a newly described interaction may be essential for understanding the infection process and, possibly, also assist in drug design.
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