| Autor: |
Kakkanas, Athanassios, Karamichali, Eirini, Koufogeorgou, Efthymia Ioanna, Kotsakis, Stathis D., Georgopoulou, Urania, Foka, Pelagia |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
Biomolecules (2218-273X); Aug2022, Vol. 12 Issue 8, p1052, 26p |
| Abstrakt: |
The emerging SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 belong to the family of "common cold" RNA coronaviruses, and they are responsible for the 2003 epidemic and the current pandemic with over 6.3 M deaths worldwide. The ORF3a gene is conserved in both viruses and codes for the accessory protein ORF3a, with unclear functions, possibly related to viral virulence and pathogenesis. The tyrosine-based YXXΦ motif (Φ: bulky hydrophobic residue—L/I/M/V/F) was originally discovered to mediate clathrin-dependent endocytosis of membrane-spanning proteins. Many viruses employ the YXXΦ motif to achieve efficient receptor-guided internalisation in host cells, maintain the structural integrity of their capsids and enhance viral replication. Importantly, this motif has been recently identified on the ORF3a proteins of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Given that the ORF3a aa sequence is not fully conserved between the two SARS viruses, we aimed to map in silico structural differences and putative sequence-driven alterations of regulatory elements within and adjacently to the YXXΦ motifs that could predict variations in ORF3a functions. Using robust bioinformatics tools, we investigated the presence of relevant post-translational modifications and the YXXΦ motif involvement in protein-protein interactions. Our study suggests that the predicted YXXΦ-related features may confer specific—yet to be discovered—functions to ORF3a proteins, significant to the new virus and related to enhanced propagation, host immune regulation and virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
