Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Structurally Observed Electrostatic Features of the COVID-19 Coronavirus-Related Experimental Structures inside Protein Data Bank: A Brief Update

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Version 1 : Received: 4 March 2020 / Approved: 5 March 2020 / Online: 5 March 2020 (03:37:44 CET)

How to cite: Li, W. Structurally Observed Electrostatic Features of the COVID-19 Coronavirus-Related Experimental Structures inside Protein Data Bank: A Brief Update. Preprints 2020, 2020030081. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202003.0081.v1 Li, W. Structurally Observed Electrostatic Features of the COVID-19 Coronavirus-Related Experimental Structures inside Protein Data Bank: A Brief Update. Preprints 2020, 2020030081. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202003.0081.v1

Abstract

Since the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak at the end of 2019, the past two month has seen an acceleration both in and outside China in the R&D of the diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus. As one of the molecular forces that determine protein structure, electrostatic effects dominate many aspects of protein behaviour and biological function. Thus, incorporating currently available experimental structures related to COVID-19, this article reports a simple python-based analysis tool and a LaTeX-based editing tool to extract and summarize the electrostatic features from experimentally determined structures, to strengthen our understanding of COVID-19's structure and function and to facilitate machine-learning and structure-based computational design of its neutralizing antibodies and/or small molecule(s) as potential therapeutic candidates. Finally, this article puts forward a brief update of the structurally observed electrostatic features of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Keywords

COVID-19; electrostatic feature; salt bridging network; structural update

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Biophysics

Comments (9)

Comment 1
Received: 14 March 2020
Commenter: ANIL CHANDRAN
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: I must understand something about covid-19 .
In my view that virus combination of some required elements under the earth .But we think about that the genetical structure of covid-19 than add some alcholic materil on it's leg .that time the the covid will occur a opsition force that time we add some amout of heat transition on our human body with the constant temprature. that time we will fight to that virus....

by
Anil chandran
engineering student
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Comment 2
Received: 23 March 2020
Commenter: Danny Montero
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: If covid-19 has a mass, it means it has electrón, protons and a core. It travels on air, and the surfaces. So, it means that it also has an electrical charge. As it's mass is so low, can we attract covid-19 molecules with an electrostatic charge? If I charge an element with electrostatic, for example a piece of plastic, can we attract covid-19 if i pass that charged plastic over our clothes and shoes before we contaminate our homes? So, if it is true, can we create strong electrostatic for example: Gates or any other kind of system so we can minimize Covid-19 expansion? Thank You
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Response 1 to Comment 2
Received: 23 March 2020
Commenter:
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: The aim of this article is to extract the electrostatic features, including salt bridging and hydrogen bonding networks, of the protein experimental structures that are related to or simply part of the Covid-19 virus. This structurally identified electrostatic features are to be plugged into machine learning algorithms for the potential development of small molecule drugs or antibodies against the Covid-19 virus in future. I'm sorry that your question is essentially irrelevant to the aim of this article, while I do appreciate your 'electrostatic gate or even window' idea against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Response 2 to Comment 2
Received: 25 April 2021
Commenter: DAYANAND. V.K.
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: Response to comment "If covid-19 has a mass, it means it has electrón, protons and a core. It travels on air, and the surfaces. So, it means that it also has an electrical charge. As it's mass is so low,----".
From my opinion you are right. I have collected some articles/device details. If you are interested I would be glad to share all this information with you. You can e-mail me.
Comment 3
Received: 7 April 2020
Commenter: alexandria ahtirski-hacker
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: I am most appreciative of the material presented in this article. My thoughts matched the stated theory of the transmissioin of COVID-19 aided by static electricity and the charge materials have. The molecular structure of the virus and how it responds to natural electrostatic forces is not stated yet.

Since it appears that the virus originated from bats, it would be consistent and logical that frequency and electrostatic and electromagnetic forces play a role in the transmission of the virus until it finds a host. The virus has developed charateristics to sustain its existence until it finds a host and this what makes the new corona virus so virulent is because it can live withot a host for extended periods of time. The revealing fact is the difference of life sustainment on different surfaces and discovering what accounts for the variations of time the virus can live on different surfaces,

The current statements about the length of life the virus sustains on surfaces. "The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists in The New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel" "National Institutes of Health, Tuesday March 17, 2020, New corona Virus stable on surfaces for hours."
If we compare the electrostatic nature of the surfaces that the new corona virus sustain a longer life on, and analyze the static nature of these surfaces, the theory that the virus lives longer on surfaces with a negative charge becomes apparent and can not sustain itself on surfaces that retain a positive charge such as silk, wool. "Ron Kurtus, Materials that cause static electricity, 4 January 2018"

This information maybe vital in fighting the spread of the virus making masks and such safety apparel from materials that the virus has the shortest sustained life period outside of a host. Knowing this, and employing such surfaces and materials in healthcare facilities could also enhance the safety of the healthcare workers and providers. The use of materials that can sustain the virus outside of a host should be caution against so as not to encourage the spread of the virus. The definitive knowledge that the virus responds to the static electric charge of materials could be the end of the pandemic.
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Response 1 to Comment 3
Received: 18 April 2020
Commenter: Jarkko Parkko
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: "If we compare the electrostatic nature of the surfaces that the new corona virus sustain a longer life on, and analyze the static nature of these surfaces, the theory that the virus lives longer on surfaces with a negative charge becomes apparent and can not sustain itself on surfaces that retain a positive charge such as silk, wool. Ron Kurtus, Materials that cause static electricity, 4 January 2018"
Where did you get this information? Why is the date 2018?

Such as? Can you give a more complete list of good/bad materials?

Should I ground myself time to time by touching a radiator(heating) to avoid COVID-19, or is is better not to ground myself? What other ways can I use to ground myself for example when I am grocery shopping (and wearing N95 mask in the grocery store)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_(electricity)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiator_(heating)
---

N95 / KN95 / FFP2 / FFP3 masks often (always?) have electrostatic charge on purpose. Surgical masks don't have this charge and thus filter less particles.

But how can I know is it a positive charge or negative charge manufacturers like 3M, Uvex, Honeywell etc use?

I am not a phycisist or a virologist, so I apologise if my questions don't make sense.
Response 2 to Comment 3
Received: 14 July 2020
Commenter:
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: Thanks.
May be we need to explore this further.
Comment 4
Received: 22 June 2020
Commenter: Alexandria Ahtirski Hacker
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment: Jarkko I apologize for delay in responding.
The avenues and methods of transmission of the coronavirus are still being studied and identified. From the studies done, we know that the virus can live on surfaces without a host. The revealing facts that the virus lives substantially longer on certain surfaces than others poses the question, why? What other factor is consistent ? The electrostatic charge of surfaces.
The surfaces that the virus was able to stay alive on all have a natural negative charge.
The natural charge of surfaces can be found on the internet such as the article I quoted.
Water,hydrogen,droplets, virus transmission, carrying a negative charge. A research study needs to be conducted investigating that negatively charged particles sustain the virus without a host. Before that is done, using positively charged surfaces is a good precaution. Such surfaces are felted wool, silk, human hair. Once such a study is completed tracking the polarity of hydrogen and the virus. And if the results concur with previous studies, better understanding, we can stop its spread.
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Comment 5
Received: 1 May 2021
Commenter: Peter Wilkes
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Vale Brothers manufactures a brush, amongst other products. The brush was proven to kill bacteria and fungus. We have now proven it destroys enveloped viruses, which include coronavirus. We will be launching this brush as a Skin & Surface Sanitiser
Comment: Very interesting discussion that I found when searching for electrical charges in viruses. My email address is g1paw@hotmail.co.uk if you wish to privately discuss.
We have been manufacturing a product for 6 years, that uses an electrical charge to help kill bacteria and fungus. the main product is a brush. Yes a simple brush. We put an additive into the brush fibre at the mixing stage of colour into plastic masterbatch. The additive adds Nitrogen which carries a +ve charge and bacteria/fungus microbes have a negative charge on their surface. This means there is an attraction but being honest this is extremely small. Our additive also adds spikes to the surface of the fibre (or at least leaving it extremely rough on a scale with microbes), these spikes stab and kill the bacteria and the electical reaction would be destruction of the cell.
We decided to test against coronavirus. Not easy to do during a pandemic apparently.
At Blutest Laboratories in Scotland they found that 99.99% of the virus used (Feline Coronavirus) was destroyed by 1 minute of brushing. However the important result was that just 4 passes of the brush destroyed greater than 99% of the virus.
The virus sample used enables us to claim effectiveness against all enveloped viruses.
My point on here is that we do not know what part the positive Nitrogen is contributing compared with the spikes. However we do have a technology that can be put into almost any plastic, including synthetic thread. So brushes for cleaning can be destroying viruses and bacteria (eg MRSA), but we could also make bedsheets, gowns, masks, surgical dressings, and even make the pens, the door handles, the medical equipment around the hospital, the floor and the walls could all be actively killing viruses and bacteria.
Problem - can't brush the air or your lungs, but for prevention we think its very versatile technology.
Our first Hand & Surface sanitiser brush will retail for £9.75 or a little less. It will be called virafibre.

It is interesting how the pandemic has increased our learning and understanding of viruses and brought any more minds into looking at the problem, including none medical minds. (we manufacture brushes and saddles for horses and didn't know we already had a product that destroyed 99% of viruses with less than 2 seconds of contact.)
And the technology isn't expensive, and our brushes remain active indefinitely and without releasing any chemicals or biological activity.
Peter Wilkes
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