In response to the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a number of labs across the world have reallocated their time and resources to better our understanding of the virus. For some viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, viral proteins can undergo phase separation: a biophysical process often related to the partitioning of protein and RNA into membraneless organelles in vivo . In this review, we discuss emerging observations of phase separation by the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein—an essential viral protein required for viral replication—and the possible in vivo functions that have been proposed for N-protein phase separation, including viral replication, viral genomic RNA packaging, and modulation of host-cell response to infection. Additionally, since a relatively large number of studies examining SARS-CoV-2 N-protein phase separation have been published in a short span of time, we take advantage of this situation to compare results from similar experiments across studies. Our evaluation highlights potential strengths and pitfalls of drawing conclusions from a single set of experiments, as well as the value of publishing overlapping scientific observations performed simultaneously by multiple labs.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Innate immunity, nucleocapsid protein, stress granule, N, nucleocapsid, phase separation, biomolecular condensate, membraneless organelle, intrinsically disordered region, ERGIC, ER-Golgi intermediate compartment, gRNA, genomic RNA, IDR, intrinsically disordered region, MD, molecular dynamics, PS, phase separation, RNP, ribonucleoprotein, 【초록키워드】 viruses, SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Infection, Viral proteins, virus, RNA, Protein, Viral, nucleocapsid, viral replication, experiment, resource, function, genomic RNA, observation, overlapping, Viral protein, modulation, organelle, SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid, N-protein, lab, highlight, performed, required, undergo, experiments, the SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 nucleocapsid, phase, question, the SARS-CoV-2,