NR investigation of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein fusion domain interaction with model membranes

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a lethal respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. A thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cellular infection by coronaviruses is therefore of utmost importance. A critical stage in infection is the fusion between viral and host membranes, which is mediated by the viral Spike Protein. It has now become clear that membrane fusion during viral entry is a cooperative process likely involving the contribution of different sections of the fusion domain, which may also be dependent on the nature and the composition of the lipid mixtures. To address this, we will employ NR to investigate the membrane binding activity of the Fusion domain and Core of the Spike S2 domain, upon interaction with natural lipid bilayers and compare these results with our previous findings involving minimal models with single peptides.