Issue 31, 2020

Quantitative determination of mechanical stability in the novel coronavirus spike protein

Abstract

We report on the novel observation about the gain in nanomechanical stability of the SARS-CoV-2 (CoV2) spike (S) protein in comparison with SARS-CoV from 2002 (CoV1). Our findings have several biological implications in the subfamily of coronaviruses, as they suggest that the receptor binding domain (RBD) (∼200 amino acids) plays a fundamental role as a damping element of the massive viral particle's motion prior to cell-recognition, while also facilitating viral attachment, fusion and entry. The mechanical stability via pulling of the RBD is 250 pN and 200 pN for CoV2 and CoV1 respectively, and the additional stability observed for CoV2 (∼50 pN) might play a role in the increasing spread of COVID-19.

Graphical abstract: Quantitative determination of mechanical stability in the novel coronavirus spike protein

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
23 5月 2020
Accepted
22 7月 2020
First published
23 7月 2020

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 16409-16413

Author version available

Quantitative determination of mechanical stability in the novel coronavirus spike protein

R. A. Moreira, M. Chwastyk, J. L. Baker, H. V. Guzman and A. B. Poma, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 16409 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR03969A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements