Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.

<h4>Background</h4>A highly pathogenic human coronavirus (CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), has emerged in Jeddah and other places in Saudi Arabia, and has quickly spread to European and Asian countries since September 2012. Up to the 1st October 2015 it has...

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Main Authors: Bo-Lin Ho, Shu-Chun Cheng, Lin Shi, Ting-Yun Wang, Kuan-I Ho, Chi-Yuan Chou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144865&type=printable
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author Bo-Lin Ho
Shu-Chun Cheng
Lin Shi
Ting-Yun Wang
Kuan-I Ho
Chi-Yuan Chou
author_facet Bo-Lin Ho
Shu-Chun Cheng
Lin Shi
Ting-Yun Wang
Kuan-I Ho
Chi-Yuan Chou
author_sort Bo-Lin Ho
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>A highly pathogenic human coronavirus (CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), has emerged in Jeddah and other places in Saudi Arabia, and has quickly spread to European and Asian countries since September 2012. Up to the 1st October 2015 it has infected at least 1593 people with a global fatality rate of about 35%. Studies to understand the virus are necessary and urgent. In the present study, MERS-CoV main protease (Mpro) is expressed; the dimerization of the protein and its relationship to catalysis are investigated.<h4>Methods and results</h4>The crystal structure of MERS-CoV Mpro indicates that it shares a similar scaffold to that of other coronaviral Mpro and consists of chymotrypsin-like domains I and II and a helical domain III of five helices. Analytical ultracentrifugation analysis demonstrated that MERS-CoV Mpro undergoes a monomer to dimer conversion in the presence of a peptide substrate. Glu169 is a key residue and plays a dual role in both dimerization and catalysis. The mutagenesis of other residues found on the dimerization interface indicate that dimerization of MERS-CoV Mpro is required for its catalytic activity. One mutation, M298R, resulted in a stable dimer with a higher level of proteolytic activity than the wild-type enzyme.<h4>Conclusions</h4>MERS-CoV Mpro shows substrate-induced dimerization and potent proteolytic activity. A critical assessment of the residues important to these processes provides insights into the correlation between dimerization and catalysis within the coronaviral Mpro family.
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spelling doaj-art-be88ef178abf4c829e9873002a54fb522025-08-20T03:11:10ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-011012e014486510.1371/journal.pone.0144865Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.Bo-Lin HoShu-Chun ChengLin ShiTing-Yun WangKuan-I HoChi-Yuan Chou<h4>Background</h4>A highly pathogenic human coronavirus (CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), has emerged in Jeddah and other places in Saudi Arabia, and has quickly spread to European and Asian countries since September 2012. Up to the 1st October 2015 it has infected at least 1593 people with a global fatality rate of about 35%. Studies to understand the virus are necessary and urgent. In the present study, MERS-CoV main protease (Mpro) is expressed; the dimerization of the protein and its relationship to catalysis are investigated.<h4>Methods and results</h4>The crystal structure of MERS-CoV Mpro indicates that it shares a similar scaffold to that of other coronaviral Mpro and consists of chymotrypsin-like domains I and II and a helical domain III of five helices. Analytical ultracentrifugation analysis demonstrated that MERS-CoV Mpro undergoes a monomer to dimer conversion in the presence of a peptide substrate. Glu169 is a key residue and plays a dual role in both dimerization and catalysis. The mutagenesis of other residues found on the dimerization interface indicate that dimerization of MERS-CoV Mpro is required for its catalytic activity. One mutation, M298R, resulted in a stable dimer with a higher level of proteolytic activity than the wild-type enzyme.<h4>Conclusions</h4>MERS-CoV Mpro shows substrate-induced dimerization and potent proteolytic activity. A critical assessment of the residues important to these processes provides insights into the correlation between dimerization and catalysis within the coronaviral Mpro family.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144865&type=printable
spellingShingle Bo-Lin Ho
Shu-Chun Cheng
Lin Shi
Ting-Yun Wang
Kuan-I Ho
Chi-Yuan Chou
Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.
PLoS ONE
title Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.
title_full Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.
title_fullStr Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.
title_full_unstemmed Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.
title_short Critical Assessment of the Important Residues Involved in the Dimerization and Catalysis of MERS Coronavirus Main Protease.
title_sort critical assessment of the important residues involved in the dimerization and catalysis of mers coronavirus main protease
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144865&type=printable
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