Structural genomics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus: nuclear magnetic resonance structure of the protein nsP7. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Here, we report the three-dimensional structure of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) nsP7, a component of the SARS-CoV replicase polyprotein. The coronavirus replicase carries out regulatory tasks involved in the maintenance, transcription, and replication of the coronavirus genome. nsP7 was found to assume a compact architecture in solution, which is comprised primarily of helical secondary structures. Three helices (alpha2 to alpha4) form a flat up-down-up antiparallel alpha-helix sheet. The N-terminal segment of residues 1 to 22, containing two turns of alpha-helix and one turn of 3(10)-helix, is packed across the surface of alpha2 and alpha3 in the helix sheet, with the alpha-helical region oriented at a 60 degrees angle relative to alpha2 and alpha3. The surface charge distribution is pronouncedly asymmetrical, with the flat surface of the helical sheet showing a large negatively charged region adjacent to a large hydrophobic patch and the opposite side containing a positively charged groove that extends along the helix alpha1. Each of these three areas is thus implicated as a potential site for protein-protein interactions.

published proceedings

  • J Virol

author list (cited authors)

  • Peti, W., Johnson, M. A., Herrmann, T., Neuman, B. W., Buchmeier, M. J., Nelson, M., ... Wthrich, K.

citation count

  • 56

complete list of authors

  • Peti, Wolfgang||Johnson, Margaret A||Herrmann, Torsten||Neuman, Benjamin W||Buchmeier, Michael J||Nelson, Mike||Joseph, Jeremiah||Page, Rebecca||Stevens, Raymond C||Kuhn, Peter||Wüthrich, Kurt

publication date

  • October 2005