Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
08:27
A Nanobar-Supported Lipid Bilayer System for the Study of Membrane Curvature Sensing Proteins in vitro
Published on: November 30, 2022
SARS-CoV-2 membrane protein conformations induce distinct membrane curvatures
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|July 17, 2026
Summary
The SARS-CoV-2 membrane protein
Area of Science:
- Structural biology
- Virology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, require viral proteins to remodel host cell membranes for assembly.
- The SARS-CoV-2 membrane (M) protein is the most abundant structural component and exists in two conformations: short and long.
- The precise role of M protein conformations in generating membrane curvature for viral budding remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how SARS-CoV-2 M protein conformations influence membrane curvature.
- To elucidate the physical mechanisms driving viral budding and assembly.
Main Methods:
- All-atom and Martini coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations were employed.
- Simulations analyzed the membrane bending induced by individual M proteins and M protein pairs.
Main Results:
- Individual M proteins induce distinct membrane curvatures based on their conformation: the long form creates a depression, and the short form creates a ridge.
- These curvatures align with the bulb and neck regions of a budding virion, respectively.
- Dissimilar M protein conformations exhibit repulsive interactions, promoting segregation.
Conclusions:
- M protein conformations are critical for shaping the viral envelope during budding.
- Conformational segregation of M proteins facilitates the formation of specific viral structures.
- This mechanism of conformationally encoded curvature may be a general principle for enveloped virus assembly.
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