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Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants

The SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus is a commonly used strategy that mimics certain biological functions of the authentic virus by relying on biological legitimacy at the molecular level. Despite the fact that spike (S), envelope (E), and membrane (M) proteins together wrap up the SARS-CoV-2 virion, most of...

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Autores principales: Wang, Hsin-I, Chuang, Zih-Shiuan, Kao, Yu-Ting, Lin, Yi-Ling, Liang, Jian-Jong, Liao, Chun-Che, Liao, Ching-Len, Lai, Michael M. C., Yu, Chia-Yi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8396568/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34445789
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms22169087
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author Wang, Hsin-I
Chuang, Zih-Shiuan
Kao, Yu-Ting
Lin, Yi-Ling
Liang, Jian-Jong
Liao, Chun-Che
Liao, Ching-Len
Lai, Michael M. C.
Yu, Chia-Yi
author_facet Wang, Hsin-I
Chuang, Zih-Shiuan
Kao, Yu-Ting
Lin, Yi-Ling
Liang, Jian-Jong
Liao, Chun-Che
Liao, Ching-Len
Lai, Michael M. C.
Yu, Chia-Yi
author_sort Wang, Hsin-I
collection PubMed
description The SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus is a commonly used strategy that mimics certain biological functions of the authentic virus by relying on biological legitimacy at the molecular level. Despite the fact that spike (S), envelope (E), and membrane (M) proteins together wrap up the SARS-CoV-2 virion, most of the reported pseudotype viruses consist of only the S protein. Here, we report that the presence of E and M increased the virion infectivity by promoting the S protein priming. The S, E, and M (SEM)-coated pseudovirion is spherical, containing crown-like spikes on the surface. Both S and SEM pseudoviruses packaged the same amounts of viral RNA, but the SEM virus bound more efficiently to cells stably expressing the viral receptor human angiotensin-converting enzyme II (hACE2) and became more infectious. Using this SEM pseudovirus, we examined the infectivity and antigenic properties of the natural SARS-CoV-2 variants. We showed that some variants have higher infectivity than the original virus and that some render the neutralizing plasma with lower potency. These studies thus revealed possible mechanisms of the dissemination advantage of these variants. Hence, the SEM pseudovirion provides a useful tool to evaluate the viral infectivity and capability of convalescent sera in neutralizing specific SARS-CoV-2 S dominant variants.
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spelling pubmed-83965682021-08-28 Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants Wang, Hsin-I Chuang, Zih-Shiuan Kao, Yu-Ting Lin, Yi-Ling Liang, Jian-Jong Liao, Chun-Che Liao, Ching-Len Lai, Michael M. C. Yu, Chia-Yi Int J Mol Sci Article The SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus is a commonly used strategy that mimics certain biological functions of the authentic virus by relying on biological legitimacy at the molecular level. Despite the fact that spike (S), envelope (E), and membrane (M) proteins together wrap up the SARS-CoV-2 virion, most of the reported pseudotype viruses consist of only the S protein. Here, we report that the presence of E and M increased the virion infectivity by promoting the S protein priming. The S, E, and M (SEM)-coated pseudovirion is spherical, containing crown-like spikes on the surface. Both S and SEM pseudoviruses packaged the same amounts of viral RNA, but the SEM virus bound more efficiently to cells stably expressing the viral receptor human angiotensin-converting enzyme II (hACE2) and became more infectious. Using this SEM pseudovirus, we examined the infectivity and antigenic properties of the natural SARS-CoV-2 variants. We showed that some variants have higher infectivity than the original virus and that some render the neutralizing plasma with lower potency. These studies thus revealed possible mechanisms of the dissemination advantage of these variants. Hence, the SEM pseudovirion provides a useful tool to evaluate the viral infectivity and capability of convalescent sera in neutralizing specific SARS-CoV-2 S dominant variants. MDPI 2021-08-23 /pmc/articles/PMC8396568/ /pubmed/34445789 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms22169087 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Wang, Hsin-I
Chuang, Zih-Shiuan
Kao, Yu-Ting
Lin, Yi-Ling
Liang, Jian-Jong
Liao, Chun-Che
Liao, Ching-Len
Lai, Michael M. C.
Yu, Chia-Yi
Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants
title Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants
title_full Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants
title_fullStr Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants
title_full_unstemmed Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants
title_short Small Structural Proteins E and M Render the SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus More Infectious and Reveal the Phenotype of Natural Viral Variants
title_sort small structural proteins e and m render the sars-cov-2 pseudovirus more infectious and reveal the phenotype of natural viral variants
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8396568/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34445789
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms22169087
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