Elucidating the behavior of the SARS-CoV-2 virus surface at vapor-liquid interfaces using molecular dynamics simulation

Aerosols play a major role in the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The behavior of the virus within aerosols is therefore of fundamental importance. On the surface of a SARS-CoV-2 virus, there are about 40 spike proteins, which each have a length of about 20 nm. They are glycosylated trimers, which are highly flexible, due to their structure. These spike proteins play a central role in the intrusion of the virus into human host cells and are, therefore, a focus of vaccine development. In this work, we have studied the behavior of spike proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the presence of a vapor-liquid interface by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Systematically, the behavior of the spike protein at different distances to a vapor-liquid interface were studied. The results reveal that the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is repelled from the vapor-liquid interface and has a strong affinity to stay inside the bulk liquid phase. Therefore, the spike protein bends when a vapor-liquid interface approaches the top of the protein. This has important consequences for understanding the behavior of the virus during the dry-out of aerosol droplets.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:121

Enthalten in:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - 121(2024), 13 vom: 26. März, Seite e2317194121

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Fleckenstein, Florian [VerfasserIn]
Stephan, Simon [VerfasserIn]
Hasse, Hans [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Airborne transmission
Journal Article
Molecular dynamics
SARS-CoV-2
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
Spike protein, SARS-CoV-2
Vapor–liquid interface

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 21.03.2024

Date Revised 05.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1073/pnas.2317194121

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369923383