Identifying the Zoonotic Origin of SARS-CoV-2 by Modeling the Binding Affinity between the Spike Receptor-Binding Domain and Host ACE2.
J Proteome Res
; 19(12): 4844-4856, 2020 12 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1387125
Preprint
This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
See preprint
This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
See preprint
ABSTRACT
Despite considerable research progress on SARS-CoV-2, the direct zoonotic origin (intermediate host) of the virus remains ambiguous. The most definitive approach to identify the intermediate host would be the detection of SARS-CoV-2-like coronaviruses in wild animals. However, due to the high number of animal species, it is not feasible to screen all the species in the laboratory. Given that binding to ACE2 proteins is the first step for the coronaviruses to invade host cells, we propose a computational pipeline to identify potential intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2 by modeling the binding affinity between the Spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) and host ACE2. Using this pipeline, we systematically examined 285 ACE2 variants from mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, and found that the binding energies calculated for the modeled Spike-RBD/ACE2 complex structures correlated closely with the effectiveness of animal infection as determined by multiple experimental data sets. Built on the optimized binding affinity cutoff, we suggest a set of 96 mammals, including 48 experimentally investigated ones, which are permissive to SARS-CoV-2, with candidates from primates, rodents, and carnivores at the highest risk of infection. Overall, this work not only suggests a limited range of potential intermediate SARS-CoV-2 hosts for further experimental investigation, but also, more importantly, it proposes a new structure-based approach to general zoonotic origin and susceptibility analyses that are critical for human infectious disease control and wildlife protection.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
/
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Topics:
Variants
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Proteome Res
Journal subject:
Biochemistry
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS