Structure of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid highlighted as the Molecule of the Month
The structure of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid phosphoprotein in complex with RNA, published by Václav Veverka, Evžen Bouřa and their teams, was highlighted as the RCSB PDB Molecule of the Month.
Nucleocapsid is the key viral protein for most home SARS-CoV2 test kits which look for the presence of antibodies that recognize it. It’s a complex molecule with many functional parts. One section folds into an RNA-binding domain (PDB ID 7act), with a groove that grips a short segment of the viral genomic RNA. Another section folds into a dimerization domain (6wji) that brings two nucleocapsid molecules together. The rest of the protein is intrinsically disordered, forming tails at each end of the protein chain and a flexible linker that connects the two structured domains. These disordered regions assist with RNA binding and orchestrate the association of nucleocapsid dimers into larger assemblies that package the DNA in the small space inside virions.
The structure of the N-terminal domain of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid phosphoprotein in complex with RNA was first published by researchers from IOCB Prague led by Václav Veverka and Evžen Bouřa in PLOS Pathogens.
The structure of the entire protein was now selected as the Molecule of the Month by the RCSB Protein Data Bank and it was artistically rendered by David S. Goodsell from the Scripps Research & RCSB PDB.
