基于五螺旋的 SARS-CoV-2 融合抑制剂靶向针对 SARS-CoV-2 及其关注变体的七肽重复 2 结构域。
A Five-Helix-Based SARS-CoV-2 Fusion Inhibitor Targeting Heptad Repeat 2 Domain against SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants of Concern.
机构信息
Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microbes and Infection, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
出版信息
Viruses. 2022 Mar 13;14(3):597. doi: 10.3390/v14030597.
The prolonged duration of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has resulted in the continuous emergence of variants of concern (VOC, e.g., Omicron) and variants of interest (VOI, e.g., Lambda). These variants have challenged the protective efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines, thus calling for the development of novel therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 and its VOCs. Here, we constructed a novel fusion inhibitor-based recombinant protein, denoted as 5-Helix, consisting of three heptad repeat 1 (HR1) and two heptad repeat 2 (HR2) fragments. The 5-Helix interacted with the HR2 domain of the viral S2 subunit, the most conserved region in spike (S) protein, to block homologous six-helix bundle (6-HB) formation between viral HR1 and HR2 domains and, hence, viral S-mediated cell-cell fusion. The 5-Helix potently inhibited infection by pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 and its VOCs, including Delta and Omicron variants. The 5-Helix also inhibited infection by authentic SARS-CoV-2 wild-type (nCoV-SH01) strain and its Delta variant. Collectively, our findings suggest that 5-Helix can be further developed as either a therapeutic or prophylactic to treat and prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2(SARS-CoV-2)大流行持续时间较长,导致出现了令人关注的变异株(VOC,例如奥密克戎)和感兴趣的变异株(VOI,例如 Lambda)。这些变异株挑战了当前 COVID-19 疫苗的保护效力,因此需要开发针对 SARS-CoV-2 及其 VOC 的新型疗法。在这里,我们构建了一种新型基于融合抑制剂的重组蛋白,命名为 5-Helix,由三个七肽重复 1(HR1)和两个七肽重复 2(HR2)片段组成。5-Helix 与病毒 S2 亚基的 HR2 结构域相互作用,HR2 结构域是刺突(S)蛋白中最保守的区域,从而阻止病毒 HR1 和 HR2 结构域之间同源六螺旋束(6-HB)的形成,进而阻止病毒 S 介导的细胞-细胞融合。5-Helix 能够有效抑制假型 SARS-CoV-2 及其 VOC 的感染,包括 Delta 和奥密克戎变异株。5-Helix 还抑制了真实的 SARS-CoV-2 野生型(nCoV-SH01)株及其 Delta 变异株的感染。总之,我们的研究结果表明,5-Helix 可以进一步开发为治疗和预防 SARS-CoV-2 及其变异株感染的治疗或预防药物。