Structural insights into SARS-CoV-2 proteins

• Published in: Journal of molecular biology Vol. 433; no. 2; p. 166725
• Main Authors: Arya, Rimanshee, Kumari, Shweta, Pandey, Bharati, Mistry, Hiral, Bihani, Subhash C., Das, Amit, Prashar, Vishal, Gupta, Gagan D., Panicker, Lata, Kumar, Mukesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 22.01.2021
• Subjects: Coronavirus 3C Proteases - chemistry; Coronavirus 3C Proteases - genetics; COVID; COVID-19 - virology; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Genome, Viral; Humans; Life Cycle Stages - genetics; Models, Molecular; Mpro; PLpro; Protein Conformation; RdRp; Review; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 - chemistry; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - chemistry; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - genetics; Viral Proteins - chemistry; Viral Proteins - genetics; Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins - chemistry; Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins - genetics; Viral Structural Proteins - chemistry; Viral Structural Proteins - genetics; Virus Replication; COVID; SARS-CoV-2; PLpro; Mpro; RdRp
• ISSN: 0022-2836; 1089-8638
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2020.11.024

[Display omitted] •Structures of many SARS-CoV-2 proteins have been determined in last six months.•These structures provide useful insights into the functioning of viral machineries.•These structures are also useful in designing novel therapeutics against COVID-19.•The review discusses important findings from all these structures. The unprecedented scale of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed an intense effort of the global scientific community to unravel different aspects of the disease in a short time. One of the crucial aspects of these developments is the determination of more than three hundred experimental structures of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in the last few months. These include structures of viral non-structural, structural, and accessory proteins and their complexes determined by either X-ray diffraction or cryo-electron microscopy. These structures elucidate the intricate working of different components of the viral machinery at the atomic level during different steps of the viral life cycle, including attachment to the host cell, viral genome replication and transcription, and genome packaging and assembly of the virion. Some of these proteins are also potential targets for drug development against the disease. In this review, we discuss important structural features of different SARS-CoV-2 proteins with their function, and their potential as a target for therapeutic interventions.