The Glycan-Binding Trait of the Sarbecovirus Spike N-Terminal Domain Reveals an Evolutionary Footprint
Hua Guo, Ang Li, Haofeng Lin, Meiqin Liu, Jing Chen, Tingting Jiang, Bei Li, Yi Wang, Michael Letko, Wenjie Peng, Zheng‐Li Shi
Abstract
. We also show that, unlike some coronaviruses, including MERS-CoV, sialic acids present on the surface of Calu3, a human lung cell culture, inhibit SARS-CoV-2 and other sarbecoviruses. These results suggest that while glycan binding might be an ancestral trait conserved across different coronavirus families, the functional outcome during infection can vary, reflecting divergent viral evolution. Our results expand our knowledge on the biological functions of the S-NTD across diverse sarbecoviruses and provide insight on the evolutionary history of coronavirus spike.
Topics & Concepts
BiologyGlycanCoronavirusCoronaviridaeHEK 293 cellsCell biologyPlasma protein bindingReceptorGeneticsGlycoproteinCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)DiseasePathologyMedicineInfectious disease (medical specialty)SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchAnimal Virus Infections StudiesViral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology