ABSTRACT
Molecular virology tools are critical for basic studies of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and for developing new therapeutics. Experimental systems that do not rely on viruses capable of spread are needed for potential use in lower-containment settings. In this work, we use a yeast-based reverse genetics system to develop spike-deleted SARS-CoV-2 self-replicating RNAs. These noninfectious self-replicating RNAs, or replicons, can be trans-complemented with viral glycoproteins to generate replicon delivery particles for single-cycle delivery into a range of cell types. This SARS-CoV-2 replicon system represents a convenient and versatile platform for antiviral drug screening, neutralization assays, host factor validation, and viral variant characterization.
Subject(s)
RNA, Viral/genetics , Replicon/physiology , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , Animals , Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Cell Line , Humans , Interferons/pharmacology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Mutation , Plasmids , RNA, Viral/metabolism , Replicon/genetics , Reverse Genetics , SARS-CoV-2/drug effects , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics , Viral Nonstructural Proteins/genetics , Viral Nonstructural Proteins/metabolism , Viral Pseudotyping , Virion/genetics , Virion/physiology , Virus ReplicationABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has claimed the lives of over one million people worldwide. The causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a member of the Coronaviridae family of viruses that can cause respiratory infections of varying severity. The cellular host factors and pathways co-opted during SARS-CoV-2 and related coronavirus life cycles remain ill defined. To address this gap, we performed genome-scale CRISPR knockout screens during infection by SARS-CoV-2 and three seasonal coronaviruses (HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-229E). These screens uncovered host factors and pathways with pan-coronavirus and virus-specific functional roles, including major dependency on glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis, sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) signaling, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, and glycosylphosphatidylinositol biosynthesis, as well as a requirement for several poorly characterized proteins. We identified an absolute requirement for the VMP1, TMEM41, and TMEM64 (VTT) domain-containing protein transmembrane protein 41B (TMEM41B) for infection by SARS-CoV-2 and three seasonal coronaviruses. This human coronavirus host factor compendium represents a rich resource to develop new therapeutic strategies for acute COVID-19 and potential future coronavirus pandemics.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections/genetics , Genome-Wide Association Study , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , A549 Cells , Cell Line , Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats , Coronavirus 229E, Human/physiology , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Coronavirus NL63, Human/physiology , Coronavirus OC43, Human/physiology , Gene Knockout Techniques , HEK293 Cells , Host-Pathogen Interactions/drug effects , Humans , Membrane Proteins/metabolism , Metabolic Networks and Pathways/drug effects , Protein Interaction MappingABSTRACT
The ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has devastated the global economy and claimed more than 1.7 million lives, presenting an urgent global health crisis. To identify host factors required for infection by SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal coronaviruses, we designed a focused high-coverage CRISPR-Cas9 library targeting 332 members of a recently published SARS-CoV-2 protein interactome. We leveraged the compact nature of this library to systematically screen SARS-CoV-2 at two physiologically relevant temperatures along with three related coronaviruses (human coronavirus 229E [HCoV-229E], HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-OC43), allowing us to probe this interactome at a much higher resolution than genome-scale studies. This approach yielded several insights, including potential virus-specific differences in Rab GTPase requirements and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor biosynthesis, as well as identification of multiple pan-coronavirus factors involved in cholesterol homeostasis. This coronavirus essentiality catalog could inform ongoing drug development efforts aimed at intercepting and treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and help prepare for future coronavirus outbreaks.