Molecular Therapy
Volume 29, Issue 6, 2 June 2021, Pages 1984-2000
Journal home page for Molecular Therapy

Original Article
Nanoluciferase complementation-based bioreporter reveals the importance of N-linked glycosylation of SARS-CoV-2 S for viral entry

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.02.007Get rights and content
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the immediate need for the development of antiviral therapeutics targeting different stages of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle. We developed a bioluminescence-based bioreporter to interrogate the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike (S) protein and its host entry receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The bioreporter assay is based on a nanoluciferase complementation reporter, composed of two subunits, large BiT and small BiT, fused to the S receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein and ACE2 ectodomain, respectively. Using this bioreporter, we uncovered critical host and viral determinants of the interaction, including a role for glycosylation of asparagine residues within the RBD in mediating successful viral entry. We also demonstrate the importance of N-linked glycosylation to the RBD’s antigenicity and immunogenicity. Our study demonstrates the versatility of our bioreporter in mapping key residues mediating viral entry as well as screening inhibitors of the ACE2-RBD interaction. Our findings point toward targeting RBD glycosylation for therapeutic and vaccine strategies against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords

coronavirus
bioluminescence
bioreporter
viral entry
high-throughput screening
2019-nCoV
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19

Cited by (0)

8

These authors contributed equally