Investigation of Interaction between the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2-Expressing Cells Using an In Vitro Cell Capturing System

Biological Procedures Online

Yunzhen Gao¹  Lijuan Song¹  Junfeng Zheng¹  Shasha Li¹  Yuning Shang¹  Feixiang Chen¹  Xinhua Yu² 

[1] Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Xinxiang Medical University, XinXiang, China;Priority Area Asthma & Allergy, Research Center Borstel, Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Members of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Borstel, Germany;

关键词: SARS-CoV-2;    spike protein;    ACE2;    In vitro cell-capture;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12575-021-00153-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe Interaction between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein with Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the host cells is a crucial step for the viral entry and infection. Therefore, investigating the molecular mechanism underlying the interaction is of great importance for the prevention of the infection of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we aimed to establish a virus-free in vitro system to study the interaction between the spike protein and host cells of SARS-CoV-2.ResultsOur results show that ACE2-overexpressing HEK293T cells are captured by immobilized spike S1 protein, and the cell capturing process can be inhibited by the receptor binding domain of the spike protein or antibodies against S protein. Furthermore, spike S1 protein variant with D614G mutant show a higher cell capturing ability than wild type spike S1 protein and stronger binding capacity of its receptor ACE2. In addition, the captured cells can be eluted as living cells for further investigation.ConclusionsThis study provides a new in vitro system for investigating the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and host cells and purifying ACE2-expressing cells.

【 授权许可】

CC BY