Phase separation by the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein: Consensus and open questions.

Autor: Cascarina SM; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA., Ross ED; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Electronic address: Eric.Ross@colostate.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Journal of biological chemistry [J Biol Chem] 2022 Mar; Vol. 298 (3), pp. 101677. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Feb 04.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101677
Abstrakt: In response to the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a number of labs across the world have reallocated their time and resources to better our understanding of the virus. For some viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, viral proteins can undergo phase separation: a biophysical process often related to the partitioning of protein and RNA into membraneless organelles in vivo. In this review, we discuss emerging observations of phase separation by the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein-an essential viral protein required for viral replication-and the possible in vivo functions that have been proposed for N-protein phase separation, including viral replication, viral genomic RNA packaging, and modulation of host-cell response to infection. Additionally, since a relatively large number of studies examining SARS-CoV-2 N-protein phase separation have been published in a short span of time, we take advantage of this situation to compare results from similar experiments across studies. Our evaluation highlights potential strengths and pitfalls of drawing conclusions from a single set of experiments, as well as the value of publishing overlapping scientific observations performed simultaneously by multiple labs.
Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest with the contents of this article.
(Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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