SARS-CoV-2 invades host cells via a novel route: CD147-spike protein
Ke Wang, Wei Chen, Yu-Sen Zhou, Jian-Qi Lian, Zheng Zhang, Peng Du, Li Gong, Yang Zhang , Hong-Yong Cui, Jie-Jie Geng, Bin Wang, Xiu-Xuan Sun, Chun-Fu Wang, Xu Yang, Peng Lin, Yong-Qiang Deng, Ding Wei, Xiang-Min Yang, Yu-Meng Zhu, Kui Zhang, Zhao-Hui Zheng, Jin-Lin Miao, Ting Guo, Ying Shi, Jun Zhang, Ling Fu, Qing-Yi Wang, Huijie Bian, Ping Zhu, Zhi-Nan Chen
doi:
https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.14.988345
This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [
what does this mean?].
SUMMARY
Currently, COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been widely spread around the world; nevertheless, so far there exist no specific antiviral drugs for treatment of the disease, which poses great challenge to control and contain the virus. Here, we reported a research finding that SARS-CoV-2 invaded host cells via a novel route of CD147-spike protein (SP). SP bound to CD147, a receptor on the host cells, thereby mediating the viral invasion. Our further research confirmed this finding. First, in vitro antiviral tests indicated Meplazumab, an anti-CD147 humanized antibody, significantly inhibited the viruses from invading host cells, with an EC[SUB]50[/SUB] of 24.86 μg/mL and IC[SUB]50[/SUB] of 15.16 μg/mL. Second, we validated the interaction between CD147 and SP, with an affinity constant of 1.85?10[SUP]−7[/SUP]M. Co-Immunoprecipitation and ELISA also confirmed the binding of the two proteins. Finally, the localization of CD147 and SP was observed in SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cells by immuno-electron microscope. Therefore, the discovery of the new route CD147-SP for SARS-CoV-2 invading host cells provides a critical target for development of specific antiviral drugs.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...03.14.988345v1