Version 1
: Received: 31 August 2020 / Approved: 1 September 2020 / Online: 1 September 2020 (11:22:49 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 1 March 2021 / Approved: 4 March 2021 / Online: 4 March 2021 (10:14:39 CET)
Basu, S.; Chakravarty, D.; Bhattacharyya, D.; Saha, P.; Patra, H. K. Plausible Blockers of Spike RBD in SARS-CoV2—Molecular Design and Underlying Interaction Dynamics from High-Level Structural Descriptors. Journal of Molecular Modeling, 2021, 27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00894-021-04779-0.
Basu, S.; Chakravarty, D.; Bhattacharyya, D.; Saha, P.; Patra, H. K. Plausible Blockers of Spike RBD in SARS-CoV2—Molecular Design and Underlying Interaction Dynamics from High-Level Structural Descriptors. Journal of Molecular Modeling, 2021, 27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00894-021-04779-0.
Basu, S.; Chakravarty, D.; Bhattacharyya, D.; Saha, P.; Patra, H. K. Plausible Blockers of Spike RBD in SARS-CoV2—Molecular Design and Underlying Interaction Dynamics from High-Level Structural Descriptors. Journal of Molecular Modeling, 2021, 27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00894-021-04779-0.
Basu, S.; Chakravarty, D.; Bhattacharyya, D.; Saha, P.; Patra, H. K. Plausible Blockers of Spike RBD in SARS-CoV2—Molecular Design and Underlying Interaction Dynamics from High-Level Structural Descriptors. Journal of Molecular Modeling, 2021, 27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00894-021-04779-0.
Abstract
COVID-19 is characterized by an unprecedented abrupt increase in transmission rate relative to its endemic evolutionary ancestor, SARS-CoV (2003). The complex molecular cascade of events related to the viral pathogenicity is triggered by the Spike protein upon interacting with the ACE2 receptor on human lung cells through its receptor binding domain (RBDSpike). One potential therapeutic strategy to combat COVID-19 could thus be limiting the infection by blocking this key interaction. In this current study, we adapt a protein design approach to predict and propose non-virulent structural mimics of the RBDSpike, potentially serving as its competitive inhibitors in binding to ACE2. RBDSpike is an independently foldable protein domain, resilient to conformational changes upon mutations and therefore an attractive target for strategic re-design. Interestingly, in spite of displaying an optimal shape fit between their interacting surfaces (attributed to a consequently high mutual affinity), the RBDSpike – ACE2 interaction appears to have a quasi-stable character due to a poor electrostatic match at their interface. Structural analyses of homologous complexes reveal that the RBDSpike has an unusually high degree of solvent-exposed hydrophobic residues, attributed to key evolutionary changes, making it inherently ‘reaction-prone’. The designed mimics, aimed to block the viral entry by occupying the available binding sites on ACE2, are tested to have signatures of stable high-affinity binding with ACE2, overriding the native quasi-stable feature. The results show the apt of directly adapting natural examples in rational protein design, wherein, homology-based threading coupled with strategic ‘hydrophobic ↔ polar’ mutations potentially serves as a breakthrough.
Keywords
COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; protein design; complementarity; competitive inhibitor; homology-based threading in rational protein design
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
