Issue 2, 2022

Fine-tuning the spike: role of the nature and topology of the glycan shield in the structure and dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 S

Abstract

The dense glycan shield is an essential feature of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) architecture, key to immune evasion and to the activation of the prefusion conformation. Recent studies indicate that the occupancy and structures of the SARS-CoV-2 S glycans depend not only on the nature of the host cell, but also on the structural stability of the trimer; a point that raises important questions about the relative competence of different glycoforms. Moreover, the functional role of the glycan shield in the SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis suggests that the evolution of the sites of glycosylation is potentially intertwined with the evolution of the protein sequence to affect optimal activity. Our results from multi-microsecond molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the type of glycosylation at N234, N165 and N343 greatly affects the stability of the receptor binding domain (RBD) open conformation, and thus its exposure and accessibility. Furthermore, our results suggest that the loss of glycosylation at N370, a newly acquired modification in the SARS-CoV-2 S glycan shield's topology, may have contributed to increase the SARS-CoV-2 infectivity as we find that N-glycosylation at N370 stabilizes the closed RBD conformation by binding a specific cleft on the RBD surface. We discuss how the absence of the N370 glycan in the SARS-CoV-2 S frees the RBD glycan binding cleft, which becomes available to bind cell-surface glycans, and potentially increases host cell surface localization.

Graphical abstract: Fine-tuning the spike: role of the nature and topology of the glycan shield in the structure and dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 S

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
01 sep 2021
Accepted
24 nov 2021
First published
25 nov 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 386-395

Fine-tuning the spike: role of the nature and topology of the glycan shield in the structure and dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 S

A. M. Harbison, C. A. Fogarty, T. K. Phung, A. Satheesan, B. L. Schulz and E. Fadda, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 386 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC04832E

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