Surface cysteines could protect the SARS-CoV-2 main protease from oxidative damage

The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M(pro)) is responsible for cleaving twelve nonstructural proteins from the viral polyprotein. M(pro), a cysteine protease, is characterized by a large number of noncatalytic cysteine (Cys) residues, none involved in disulfide bonds. In the absence of a tertiary-structure stabilizing role for these residues, a possible alternative is that they are involved in redox processes. We report experimental work in support of a proposal that surface cysteines on M(pro) can protect the active-site Cys145 from oxidation by reactive oxygen species (ROS). In investigations of enzyme kinetics, we found that mutating three surface cysteines to serines did not greatly affect activity, which in turn indicates that these cysteines could protect Cys145 from oxidative damage.