SAXS Studies of the Nanoscale Structure of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Peptides and their Interactions with Lipid Membranes and DNA

We will perform SAXS studies on the nanoscale structure of chimeric peptides that combine a segment from the receptor binding motif (of the SARSCoV2 Spike-protein and the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of the simian virus 40 T-antigen. The choice for the protein fragments used to construct our peptides is based on their capacity to penetrate cell membranes. Our goal is to determine in detail, via BioSAXS measurements, the organization of peptide/DNA complexes with potential for gene therapy and to investigate the elastic properties of lipid vesicles in the presence of these complexes. Our results, along with biologicalassays that revealed strong tropism toward mammalian cells and antimicrobial properties against bacterial strains, have potential to disclose a new class of cell-penetrating peptides derived from the SARS-CoV-2 proteome and shed light on their interaction with biomembranes.