RBD mutations from circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains enhance the structure stability and infectivity of the spike protein
Junxian Ou, Zhonghua Zhou, Jing Zhang, Wendong Lan, Shan Zhao, Jianguo Wu, Donald Seto, Gong Zhang, Qiwei Zhang
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.15.991844
Abstract
A novel zoonotic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the current global pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Bats and pangolins are suspected as the reservoir and the intermediate host. The receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein plays the key role in the tight binding to human ACE2 for viral entry. In this study, we analyzed the worldwide RBD mutations and found 10 mutants revealed high positive selection pressure during the spread. The equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) of three RBD mutants were two orders of magnitude lower than the prototype Wuhan-Hu-1 strain due to the stabilization of the beta-sheet scaffold of the RBD.
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