• FluTrackers.com Inc. does not provide medical advice. Information on this web site is collected from various internet resources, and the FluTrackers board of directors makes no warranty to the safety, efficacy, correctness or completeness of the information posted on this site by any author or poster. The information collated here is for instructional and/or discussion purposes only and is NOT intended to diagnose or treat any disease, illness, or other medical condition. Every individual reader or poster should seek advice from their personal physician/healthcare practitioner before considering or using any interventions that are discussed on this website. By continuing to access this website you agree to consult your personal physican before using any interventions posted on this website, and you agree to hold harmless FluTrackers.com Inc., the board of directors, the members, and all authors and posters for any effects from use of any medication, supplement, vitamin or other substance, device, intervention, etc. mentioned in posts on this website, or other internet venues referenced in posts on this website.
  • We are not asking for any donations. Do not donate to any entity who says they are raising funds for us.

J Gen Virol . Molecular Simulation of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Binding to Pangolin ACE2 or Human ACE2 Natural Variants Reveals Altered Susceptibilit

tetano

Editor, Senior Moderator
J Gen Virol


. 2020 Jun 15.
doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001452. Online ahead of print.
Molecular Simulation of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Binding to Pangolin ACE2 or Human ACE2 Natural Variants Reveals Altered Susceptibility to Infection


Jingfang Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xintian Xu[SUP] 2 1 [/SUP], Xinbo Zhou[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Ping Chen[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Huiying Liang[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Xuan Li[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Wu Zhong[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Pei Hao[SUP] 2 4 1 [/SUP]



Affiliations

Abstract

We constructed complex models of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binding to pangolin or human ACE2, the receptor for virus transmission, and estimated the binding free energy changes using molecular dynamics simulation. SARS-CoV-2 can bind to both pangolin and human ACE2, but has a significantly lower binding affinity for pangolin ACE2 due to the increased binding free energy (9.5 kcal mol[SUP]-1[/SUP]). Human ACE2 is among the most polymorphous genes, for which we identified 317 missense single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) from the dbSNP database. Three SNVs, E329G (rs143936283), M82I (rs267606406) and K26R (rs4646116), had a significant reduction in binding free energy, which indicated higher binding affinity than wild-type ACE2 and greater susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection for people with them. Three other SNVs, D355N (rs961360700), E37K (rs146676783) and I21T (rs1244687367), had a significant increase in binding free energy, which indicated lower binding affinity and reduced susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords: ACE2 variants; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; molecular dynamic simulation; pangolin; susceptibility.
 
Back
Top Bottom