SARS-Cov-2 spike protein fragment 674–685 protects mitochondria from releasing cytochrome c in response to apoptogenic influence

In spite of numerous studies, many details of SARS-Cov-2 interaction with human cells are still poorly understood. The 674–685 fragment of SARS-Cov-2 spike protein is homologous to the fragment of α-cobratoxin underlying its interaction with α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The interaction of 674–685 peptide with α7 nAChR has been predicted in silico. In the present paper we confirm this prediction experimentally and investigate the effect of SARS-Cov-2 spike protein peptide on mitochondria, which express α7 nAChRs to regulate apoptosis-related events. We demonstrate that SARS-Cov-2 spike protein peptide 674–685 competes with the antibody against 179–190 fragment of α7 nAChR subunit for the binding to α7-expressing cells and mitochondria and prevents the release of cytochrome c from isolated mitochondria in response to 0.5 mM H(2)O(2) but does not protect intact U373 cells against apoptogenic effect of H(2)O(2.) Our data suggest that the α7 nAChR-binding portion of SARS-Cov-2 spike protein prevents mitochondria-driven apoptosis when the virus is uncoated inside the cell and, therefore, supports the infected cell viability before the virus replication cycle is complete.