Mechanistic insights into ligand dissociation from the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein

Copyright: © 2024 Hasse et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited..

The COVID-19 pandemic, driven by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spurred an urgent need for effective therapeutic interventions. The spike glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for infiltrating host cells, rendering it a key candidate for drug development. By interacting with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, the spike initiates the infection of SARS-CoV-2. Linoleate is known to bind the spike glycoprotein, subsequently reducing its interaction with ACE2. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying the protein-ligand interaction remain unclear. In this study, we characterized the pathways of ligand dissociation and the conformational changes associated with the spike glycoprotein by using ligand Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (LiGaMD). Our simulations resulted in eight complete ligand dissociation trajectories, unveiling two distinct ligand unbinding pathways. The preference between these two pathways depends on the gate distance between two α-helices in the receptor binding domain (RBD) and the position of the N-linked glycan at N343. Our study also highlights the essential contributions of K417, N121 glycan, and N165 glycan in ligand unbinding, which are equally crucial in enhancing spike-ACE2 binding. We suggest that the presence of the ligand influences the motions of these residues and glycans, consequently reducing accessibility for spike-ACE2 binding. These findings enhance our understanding of ligand dissociation from the spike glycoprotein and offer significant implications for drug design strategies in the battle against COVID-19.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:20

Enthalten in:

PLoS computational biology - 20(2024), 3 vom: 22. März, Seite e1011955

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Hasse, Timothy [VerfasserIn]
Mantei, Esra [VerfasserIn]
Shahoei, Rezvan [VerfasserIn]
Pawnikar, Shristi [VerfasserIn]
Wang, Jinan [VerfasserIn]
Miao, Yinglong [VerfasserIn]
Huang, Yu-Ming M [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
EC 3.4.17.23
Glycoproteins
Journal Article
Ligands
Polysaccharides
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
Spike protein, SARS-CoV-2

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 25.03.2024

Date Revised 25.03.2024

published: Electronic-eCollection

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011955

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369418794