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A mechanism discovered by scientists at the Technical University of Zurich (ETH) and the University of Bern causes cells to produce almost only the viral protein instead of their own. Once the virus has infiltrated the human cell, one of the first viral proteins, Nsp1, begins to be produced. Other coronaviruses are already known to inhibit the production of the cell’s own proteins by Nsp1.
Scientists have now discovered exactly how this works.
Cellular organs called ribosomes read genetic information and make proteins from it. Upon reading, the blueprint of the structure passes through a channel in the ribosome. The researchers showed that the Nsp1 protein binds within this channel and blocks the ribosome. The Swiss study appears in the current issue of the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. Using a cryoelectron microscope, the Nsp1 binding site was shown in atomic resolution.
The detailed representation provides important information for the design of a possible future drug that prevents Nsp1 binding but does not affect ribosome function.
said Nenad Ban, a molecular biologist at ETH, a co-author of the study.
In their experiments, the researchers also produced a variant of Nsp1 that no longer had an inhibitory effect. SARS-Cov-2 with this inactive variant would be so weakened that it could not cause serious illness. These attenuated viruses can also be used in vaccines, scientists say.
Cover Image Source: Fabian Strauch / Picture Alliance via Getty Images
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