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Insight into the LFA-1/SARS-CoV-2 Orf7a Complex by Protein-Protein Docking, Molecular Dynamics, and MM-GBSA
Alberto Ongaro1, Erika Oselladore1, Maurizio Memo1
1Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
Abstract:
In the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome, open reading frames (ORFs) encode for viral accessory proteins. Among these, Orf7a structurally resembles the members of the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily and intracellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs), in particular. ICAMs are involved in integrin binding through lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1). Based on such considerations and on previous findings on SARS-CoV, it has been postulated that the formation of the LFA-1/Orf7a complex could contribute to SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and pathogenicity. With the current work, we aim at providing insight into this macromolecular assembly, taking advantage of the recently reported SARS-CoV-2 Orf7a structure. Protein-protein docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and a Molecular Mechanical-Generalized Born Surface Area (MM-GBSA)-based stage were enrolled to provide refined models.
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