Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Clinical Isolate Or Cleavage Site Mutations In The Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein On Protein Stability, Cleavage, And Cell-Cell Fusion, Chelsea T. Barrett, Hadley E. Neal, Kearstin Edmonds, Carole L. Moncman, Rachel Thompson, Jean M. Branttie, Kerri Beth Boggs, Cheng-Yu Wu, Daisy W. Leung, Rebecca E. Dutch

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The trimeric severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein (S) is the sole viral protein responsible for both viral binding to a host cell and the membrane fusion event needed for cell entry. In addition to facilitating fusion needed for viral entry, S can also drive cell-cell fusion, a pathogenic effect observed in the lungs of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. While several studies have investigated S requirements involved in viral particle entry, examination of S stability and factors involved in S cell-cell fusion remain limited. A furin cleavage site at the border between the S1 and S2 subunits (S1/S2) has …