{"title":"Stoichiometric insights into SARS-CoV-2 spike-ACE2 binding across variants.","authors":"Ishola Abeeb Akinwumi, Sneha Bheemireddy, Laurent Chaloin, Serge Perez, Hamed Khakzad, Bernard Maigret, Yasaman Karami","doi":"10.1016/j.csbj.2025.07.034","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to mediate viral entry, with mutations in different variants influencing binding affinity and conformational dynamics. Using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we analyzed the Spike-ACE2 complex in the wild-type (WT), Beta, and Delta variants. Our findings reveal significant conformational rearrangements at the interface in Beta and Delta compared to WT, leading to distinct interaction networks and changes in complex stability. Binding free energy analysis further highlights variant-specific differences in ACE2 affinity, with alternative binding modes emerging over the simulation. The results enhance our understanding of spike-ACE2 stoichiometry across variants, providing implications for viral infectivity and therapeutic targeting.</p>","PeriodicalId":10715,"journal":{"name":"Computational and structural biotechnology journal","volume":"27 ","pages":"3285-3291"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12329073/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Computational and structural biotechnology journal","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2025.07.034","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to mediate viral entry, with mutations in different variants influencing binding affinity and conformational dynamics. Using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we analyzed the Spike-ACE2 complex in the wild-type (WT), Beta, and Delta variants. Our findings reveal significant conformational rearrangements at the interface in Beta and Delta compared to WT, leading to distinct interaction networks and changes in complex stability. Binding free energy analysis further highlights variant-specific differences in ACE2 affinity, with alternative binding modes emerging over the simulation. The results enhance our understanding of spike-ACE2 stoichiometry across variants, providing implications for viral infectivity and therapeutic targeting.
期刊介绍：
Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ) is an online gold open access journal publishing research articles and reviews after full peer review. All articles are published, without barriers to access, immediately upon acceptance. The journal places a strong emphasis on functional and mechanistic understanding of how molecular components in a biological process work together through the application of computational methods. Structural data may provide such insights, but they are not a pre-requisite for publication in the journal. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
Structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids and other macromolecules
Structure and function of multi-component complexes
Protein folding, processing and degradation
Enzymology
Computational and structural studies of plant systems
Microbial Informatics
Genomics
Proteomics
Metabolomics
Algorithms and Hypothesis in Bioinformatics
Mathematical and Theoretical Biology
Computational Chemistry and Drug Discovery
Microscopy and Molecular Imaging
Nanotechnology
Systems and Synthetic Biology
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