Data_Sheet_1_Functional Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Virus-Like Particles From Insect Cells.docx

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains a major epidemic threat since the beginning of 2020. Efforts to combat the virus and the associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease are being undertaken worldwide. To facilitate the research on the virus itself, a number of surrogate systems have been developed. Here, we report the efficient production of SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles (VLPs) in insect cells. Contrary to widely used pseudovirus particles, where only one coronaviral protein is displayed within a heterologous scaffold, developed VLPs are structurally similar to the native virus and allow for more throughput studies on the biology of the infection. On the other hand, being devoid of the viral genome, VLPs are unable to replicate and thus safe to work with. Importantly, this is the first report showing that SARS-CoV-2 VLPs can be efficiently produced in insect cells and purified using scalable affinity chromatography.

自2020年初以来，严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型（SARS-CoV-2）始终是全球主要的疫情威胁。全球范围内正开展各类防控该病毒及相关新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）的工作。为推动针对该病毒本身的研究，学界已开发出多种替代研究系统。本研究报道了在昆虫细胞中高效制备严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型病毒样颗粒（virus-like particles, VLPs）的方法。与当前广泛使用的假病毒颗粒不同——后者仅在异源支架中展示一种冠状病毒蛋白，本研究开发的VLPs在结构上与天然病毒高度相似，可支持更多通量的感染生物学相关研究。另一方面，由于VLPs不携带病毒基因组，无法进行自主复制，因此操作安全性较高。尤为重要的是，本研究首次报道了可在昆虫细胞中高效制备SARS-CoV-2 VLPs，并通过可规模化的亲和层析技术完成纯化。