Department of Biotechnology
inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine)

Correlating the differences in the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike variants on their interactions with human ACE2 receptor.

Publication Type

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Date of Publication

May 30, 2023

Journal

Scientific reports

Volume/Issue

13/1

ISSN

2045-2322

Spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 variants plays a critical role in infection and transmission through its interaction with human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptors. Prior findings using molecular docking and biomolecular studies reported varied findings on the difference in the interactions among the spike variants with the hACE2 receptors. Hence, it is a prerequisite to understand these interactions in a more precise manner. To this end, firstly, we performed ELISA with trimeric spike glycoproteins of SARS-CoV-2 variants including Wuhan Hu-1(Wild), Delta, C.1.2 and Omicron. Further, to study the interactions in a more specific manner by mimicking the natural infection, we developed hACE2 receptors expressing HEK-293T cell line, evaluated their binding efficiencies and competitive binding of spike variants with D614G spike pseudotyped virus. In line with the existing findings, we observed that Omicron had higher binding efficiency compared to Delta in both ELISA and Cellular models. Intriguingly, we found that cellular models could differentiate the subtle differences between the closely related C.1.2 and Delta in their binding to hACE2 receptors. Our study using the cellular model provides a precise method to evaluate the binding interactions between spike sub-lineages to hACE2 receptors.

Alternate Journal

Sci Rep

PubMed ID

37253762

PubMed Central ID

PMC10227802

Authors

Gokulnath Mahalingam
Porkizhi Arjunan
Yogapriya Periyasami
Ajay Kumar Dhyani
Nivedita Devaraju
Vignesh Rajendiran
Abisha Crystal Christopher
Ramya Devi Kt
Immanuel Dhanasingh
Saravanabhavan Thangavel
Mohankumar Murugesan
Mahesh Moorthy
Alok Srivastava
Srujan Marepally

Keywords

Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Molecular Docking Simulation
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
Humans
Protein Binding