Department of Biotechnology and Biophysics, Biocenter, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
Institute of Virology and Immunbiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Versbacher Str. 7, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Jul 24;62(30):e202300821. doi: 10.1002/anie.202300821. Epub 2023 Jun 6.
The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been identified as entry receptor on cells enabling binding and infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) via trimeric spike (S) proteins protruding from the viral surface. It has been suggested that trimeric S proteins preferably bind to plasma membrane areas with high concentrations of possibly multimeric ACE2 receptors to achieve a higher binding and infection efficiency. Here we used direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM) in combination with different labeling approaches to visualize the distribution and quantify the expression of ACE2 on different cells. Our results reveal that endogenous ACE2 receptors are present as monomers in the plasma membrane with densities of only 1-2 receptors μm . In addition, binding of trimeric S proteins does not induce the formation of ACE2 oligomers in the plasma membrane. Supported by infection studies using vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) particles bearing S proteins our data demonstrate that a single S protein interaction per virus particle with a monomeric ACE2 receptor is sufficient for infection, which provides SARS-CoV-2 a high infectivity.
血管紧张素转换酶 2(ACE2)已被鉴定为细胞上的进入受体,通过病毒表面突出的三聚体刺突(S)蛋白,允许与严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2(SARS-CoV-2)结合和感染。有人提出,三聚体 S 蛋白更喜欢与可能具有多聚体 ACE2 受体的高浓度的质膜区域结合,以实现更高的结合和感染效率。在这里,我们使用直接随机光学重建显微镜(dSTORM)结合不同的标记方法来可视化 ACE2 在不同细胞上的分布并定量其表达。我们的结果表明,内源性 ACE2 受体以单体形式存在于质膜中,密度仅为 1-2 个受体/μm。此外,三聚体 S 蛋白的结合不会诱导质膜中 ACE2 寡聚体的形成。我们的数据通过使用带有 S 蛋白的水疱性口炎病毒(VSV)颗粒进行感染研究表明,每个病毒颗粒与单体 ACE2 受体的单个 S 蛋白相互作用足以感染,这使得 SARS-CoV-2 具有很高的感染力。