Comparative studies of the seven human coronavirus envelope proteins using topology prediction and molecular modelling to understand their pathogenicity

Schoeman, Dewald; Cloete, Ruben; Fielding, Burtram C.

Human (h) coronaviruses (CoVs) 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1 are less virulent and cause mild, self-limiting respiratory tract infections, while SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2, are more virulent and have caused severe outbreaks. The CoV envelope (E) protein, an important contributor to the pathogenesis of severe hCoVs infections, may provide insight into this disparate severity of the disease. Topology prediction programs and 3D modelling software was used to predict and visualize structural aspects of the hCoV E protein related to its functions. All seven hCoV E proteins largely adopted different topologies, with some distinction between the more virulent and less virulent ones. The 3D models refined this distinction, showing the PDZ-binding motif (PBM) of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 to be more flexible than the PBM of hCoVs 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1. We speculate that the increased flexibility of the PBM may provide the more virulent hCoVs with a greater degree of freedom, which can allow them to bind to different host proteins and can contribute to a more severe form of the disease. This is the first paper to predict the topologies and model 3D structures of all seven hCoVs E proteins, providing novel insights for possible drug and/or vaccine development.