AUTHOR=Morante Silvia , La Penna Giovanni , Rossi Giancarlo , Stellato Francesco 

TITLE=SARS-CoV-2 Virion Stabilization by Zn Binding

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00222

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2020.00222

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p>Zinc plays a crucial role in the process of virion maturation inside the host cell. The accessory Cys-rich proteins expressed in SARS-CoV-2 by genes ORF7a and ORF8 are likely involved in zinc binding and in interactions with cellular antigens activated by extensive disulfide bonds. In this report we provide a proof of concept for the feasibility of a structural study of orf7a and orf8 proteins. A conceivable hypothesis is that lack of cellular zinc, or substitution thereof, might lead to a significant slowing down of viral maturation.</p>