PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Gerard Duart
AU  - Ma Jesús García-Murria
AU  - Brayan Grau
AU  - José M. Acosta-Cáceres
AU  - Luis Martínez-Gil
AU  - Ismael Mingarro
TI  - SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein topology in eukaryotic membranes
AID  - 10.1101/2020.05.27.118752
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.05.27.118752
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/27/2020.05.27.118752.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/27/2020.05.27.118752.full
AB  - Coronavirus E protein is a small membrane protein found in the virus envelope. Different coronavirus E proteins share striking biochemical and functional similarities, but sequence conservation is limited. In this report, we studied the E protein topology from the new SARS-CoV-2 virus both in microsomal membranes and in mammalian cells. Experimental data reveal that E protein is a single-spanning membrane protein with the N-terminus being translocated across the membrane, while the C-terminus is exposed to the cytoplasmic side (Ntlum/Ctcyt). The defined membrane protein topology of SARS-CoV-2 E protein may provide a useful framework to understand its interaction with other viral and host components and establish the basis to tackle the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.