Background The Interaction between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein with Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the host cells is a crucial step for the viral entry and infection. Therefore, investigating the molecular mechanism underlying the interaction is of great importance for the prevention of the infection of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we aimed to establish a virus-free in vitro system to study the interaction between the spike protein and host cells of SARS-CoV-2. Results Our results show that ACE2-overexpressing HEK293T cells are captured by immobilized spike S1 protein, and the cell capturing process can be inhibited by the receptor binding domain of the spike protein or antibodies against S protein. Furthermore, spike S1 protein variant with D614G mutant show a higher cell capturing ability than wild type spike S1 protein and stronger binding capacity of its receptor ACE2. In addition, the captured cells can be eluted as living cells for further investigation. Conclusions This study provides a new in vitro system for investigating the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and host cells and purifying ACE2-expressing cells. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12575-021-00153-9.
【저자키워드】 ACE2, SARS-CoV-2;spike protein, In vitro cell-capture, 【초록키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, S protein, antibody, variant, Infection, in vitro, molecular mechanism, angiotensin converting enzyme, viral entry, Spike protein, Receptor binding domain, D614G, mutant, wild type, binding, Interaction, host cell, acute respiratory syndrome, supplementary material, S1 protein, receptor ACE2, ACE2-expressing cells, Cell, Result, addition, inhibited, provide, the spike protein, living cell, HEK293T cell, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, investigation, System, the Spike,