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The flexibility of ACE2 in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection

E. P. Barros, View ORCID ProfileL. Casalino, Z. Gaieb, A. C. Dommer, Y. Wang, L. Fallon, L. Raguette, K. Belfon, C. Simmerling, View ORCID ProfileR. E. Amaro
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.16.300459
E. P. Barros
1University of California, San Diego;
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L. Casalino
2University of California San Diego;
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  • ORCID record for L. Casalino
Z. Gaieb
1University of California, San Diego;
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A. C. Dommer
3UC San Diego;
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Y. Wang
4State University of New York;
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L. Fallon
4State University of New York;
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L. Raguette
4State University of New York;
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K. Belfon
4State University of New York;
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C. Simmerling
5SUNY at Stony Brook
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R. E. Amaro
3UC San Diego;
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  • For correspondence: ramaro@ucsd.edu
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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept over the world in the past months, causing significant loss of life and consequences to human health. Although numerous drug and vaccine developments efforts are underway, many questions remain outstanding on the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 viral association to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), its main host receptor, and entry in the cell. Structural and biophysical studies indicate some degree of flexibility in the viral extracellular Spike glycoprotein and at the receptor binding domain-receptor interface, suggesting a role in infection. Here, we perform all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of the glycosylated, full-length membrane-bound ACE2 receptor, in both an apo and spike receptor binding domain (RBD) bound state, in order to probe the intrinsic dynamics of the ACE2 receptor in the context of the cell surface. A large degree of fluctuation in the full length structure is observed, indicating hinge bending motions at the linker region connecting the head to the transmembrane helix, while still not disrupting the ACE2 homodimer or ACE2-RBD interfaces. This flexibility translates into an ensemble of ACE2 homodimer conformations that could sterically accommodate binding of the spike trimer to more than one ACE2 homodimer, and suggests a mechanical contribution of the host receptor towards the large spike conformational changes required for cell fusion. This work presents further structural and functional insights into the role of ACE2 in viral infection that can be exploited for the rational design of effective SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.

Statement of Significance As the host receptor of SARS-CoV-2, ACE2 has been the subject of extensive structural and antibody design efforts in aims to curtail COVID-19 spread. Here, we perform molecular dynamics simulations of the homodimer ACE2 full-length structure to study the dynamics of this protein in the context of the cellular membrane. The simulations evidence exceptional plasticity in the protein structure due to flexible hinge motions in the head-transmembrane domain linker region and helix mobility in the membrane, resulting in a varied ensemble of conformations distinct from the experimental structures. Our findings suggest a dynamical contribution of ACE2 to the spike glycoprotein shedding required for infection, and contribute to the question of stoichiometry of the Spike-ACE2 complex.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Posted September 16, 2020.
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The flexibility of ACE2 in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection
E. P. Barros, L. Casalino, Z. Gaieb, A. C. Dommer, Y. Wang, L. Fallon, L. Raguette, K. Belfon, C. Simmerling, R. E. Amaro
bioRxiv 2020.09.16.300459; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.16.300459
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The flexibility of ACE2 in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection
E. P. Barros, L. Casalino, Z. Gaieb, A. C. Dommer, Y. Wang, L. Fallon, L. Raguette, K. Belfon, C. Simmerling, R. E. Amaro
bioRxiv 2020.09.16.300459; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.16.300459

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