Published in

Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(14), 2023

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43666-5

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SARS-CoV-2 nsp3 and nsp4 are minimal constituents of a pore spanning replication organelle

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractCoronavirus replication is associated with the remodeling of cellular membranes, resulting in the formation of double-membrane vesicles (DMVs). A DMV-spanning pore was identified as a putative portal for viral RNA. However, the exact components and the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 DMV pore remain to be determined. Here, we investigate the structure of the DMV pore by in situ cryo-electron tomography combined with subtomogram averaging. We identify non-structural protein (nsp) 3 and 4 as minimal components required for the formation of a DMV-spanning pore, which is dependent on nsp3-4 proteolytic cleavage. In addition, we show that Mac2-Mac3-DPUP-Ubl2 domains are critical for nsp3 oligomerization and crown integrity which influences membrane curvature required for biogenesis of DMVs. Altogether, SARS-CoV-2 nsp3-4 have a dual role by driving the biogenesis of replication organelles and assembly of DMV-spanning pores which we propose here to term replicopores.