• Question: Do you know any of the proteins In the genetic makeup of Covid-19

    Asked by anon-255518 to Richard, Leanne, Ellie on 21 May 2020.
    • Photo: Eleanor Williams

      Eleanor Williams answered on 21 May 2020:

      So there’s one protein called ‘Spike’ that is found covering the viral particle. The virus is a bunch of RNA wrapped in a fatty bubble and embedded in that bubble are lots of proteins including many copies of one called ‘spike’ which help it to recognise cells taht it might try and infect. Spike is also useful because it’s the protein that our bodies are most likely to raise antibodies against when it’s fighting the virus. It means it’s a good one for us to make in the lab to use in antibody tests that you might have head of in the news.

      We make the virus protein spike (which on it’s own is harmless to humans as it doesn’t have any of the other bits like the genetic material that make the virus infectious and harmful). We then mix it with a sample from the patient – if they have been exposed to the virus (either currently or importantly if they’ve *ever* been exposed to it in the past) they’ll have antibodies that stick to the spike. We can detect when the two bind together and so we can tell if someone has been exposed to the virus or not. – this is going to be really useful later when we want to tell how far it actually spread and how many people caught it but were asymptomatic for example.

    • Photo: Richard Burns

      Richard Burns answered on 21 May 2020:

      Hi Joseph,

      You might be a little confused with the wording of your question, however I will aim to answer it regardless. Proteins are not in the genetic makeup of an organism, it is the other way around; genes in your genetic makeup can code for proteins. According to a recent paper (A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China, Wu et al., 2020) the order of the genes in the viral genome is predicted as follows; replicase ORF1ab, spike, envelope, membrane, nucleocapsid (these are the names, they aren’t very fancy in viruses sadly).
      To break down what each of those do:
      -ORF1ab codes for ORF1ab polyprotein, and is associated with viral genome processing, transcription, replication and autophagy (a way in which the virus uses the hosts body to replicate and spread).
      – Virus spike proteins (which are coded for by spike genes) are present on the outside of a virus, and are the way a virus enters a host cell by binding to other normal proteins and using them to be accepted into a cell.
      -Envelope genes code for the envelope of a virus; this is the outermost layer of a virus that protects its DNA during its lifetime (although not all viruses have envelopes COVID-19 does).
      -Membrane genes code for the membrane of a virus, which is another layer that surrounds the virus. While not all viruses have envelopes, they do all have membranes; membranes also protect the DNA of a virus, however they have a much broader function in allowing things in and out, they are far less protective and more functional.
      -Nucleocapsid genes code for nucleocapsid proteins; a structural protein found in the cytoplasm of a virus that has a lot of functions in viral assembly, replication and transmission between cells, as well as protecting the virus during its lifecycle from the bodies immune response (I’m only just reading about this and it’s super cool it does a whole lot).

      I’m not sure if we’re allowed to post web links on here, but there is a whole lot of information on all of this available on the internet, just make sure you’re looking in the right places. Specifically for information on COVID-19 structure and function always ensure you are looking on reputable science outlets such. For example in answering this question I have found sequencing information for the virus on NCBI and UNIprot, and some papers published in journals like Nature (if you put the one I mentioned earlier into Google it is available to read for free).
      I hope this answered your question, if you have any more feel free to ask away on here!

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