Crystal structure of spike protein receptor-binding domain from the 2005-2006 SARS coronavirus civet strain complexed with human-civet chimeric receptor ACE2
[ACE2_PAGLA] Carboxypeptidase which converts angiotensin I to angiotensin 1-9, a peptide of unknown function, and angiotensin II to angiotensin 1-7, a vasodilator. Also able to hydrolyze apelin-13 and dynorphin-13 with high efficiency. May be an important regulator of heart function (By similarity). Functional receptor for human coronavirus SARS. [SPIKE_CVHSA] S1 attaches the virion to the cell membrane by interacting with human ACE2 and CLEC4M/DC-SIGNR, initiating the infection. Binding to the receptor and internalization of the virus into the endosomes of the host cell probably induces conformational changes in the S glycoprotein. Proteolysis by cathepsin CTSL may unmask the fusion peptide of S2 and activate membranes fusion within endosomes. S2 is a class I viral fusion protein. Under the current model, the protein has at least three conformational states: pre-fusion native state, pre-hairpin intermediate state, and post-fusion hairpin state. During viral and target cell membrane fusion, the coiled coil regions (heptad repeats) assume a trimer-of-hairpins structure, positioning the fusion peptide in close proximity to the C-terminal region of the ectodomain. The formation of this structure appears to drive apposition and subsequent fusion of viral and target cell membranes.
Evolutionary Conservation
Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
It is believed that a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), was passed from palm civets to humans and caused the epidemic of SARS in 2002 to 2003. The major species barriers between humans and civets for SARS-CoV infections are the specific interactions between a defined receptor-binding domain (RBD) on a viral spike protein and its host receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). In this study a chimeric ACE2 bearing the critical N-terminal helix from civet and the remaining peptidase domain from human was constructed, and it was shown that this construct has the same receptor activity as civet ACE2. In addition, crystal structures of the chimeric ACE2 complexed with RBDs from various human and civet SARS-CoV strains were determined. These structures, combined with a previously determined structure of human ACE2 complexed with the RBD from a human SARS-CoV strain, have revealed a structural basis for understanding the major species barriers between humans and civets for SARS-CoV infections. They show that the major species barriers are determined by interactions between four ACE2 residues (residues 31, 35, 38, and 353) and two RBD residues (residues 479 and 487), that early civet SARS-CoV isolates were prevented from infecting human cells due to imbalanced salt bridges at the hydrophobic virus/receptor interface, and that SARS-CoV has evolved to gain sustained infectivity for human cells by eliminating unfavorable free charges at the interface through stepwise mutations at positions 479 and 487. These results enhance our understanding of host adaptations and cross-species infections of SARS-CoV and other emerging animal viruses.
Structural analysis of major species barriers between humans and palm civets for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections.,Li F J Virol. 2008 Jul;82(14):6984-91. Epub 2008 Apr 30. PMID:18448527[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
References
↑Li F. Structural analysis of major species barriers between humans and palm civets for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections. J Virol. 2008 Jul;82(14):6984-91. Epub 2008 Apr 30. PMID:18448527 doi:10.1128/JVI.00442-08
