1. Academic Validation
  2. HDL-scavenger receptor B type 1 facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry

HDL-scavenger receptor B type 1 facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry

  • Nat Metab. 2020 Dec;2(12):1391-1400. doi: 10.1038/s42255-020-00324-0.
Congwen Wei  # 1 Luming Wan  # 1 Qiulin Yan  # 1 2 Xiaolin Wang  # 1 Jun Zhang  # 1 Xiaopan Yang  # 1 Yanhong Zhang 1 Chen Fan 3 Dongyu Li 1 Yongqiang Deng 4 Jin Sun 1 Jing Gong 1 2 Xiaoli Yang 5 Yufei Wang 5 Xuejun Wang 6 Jianmin Li 1 Huan Yang 1 Huilong Li 1 Zhe Zhang 1 Rong Wang 1 Peng Du 1 Yulong Zong 7 Feng Yin 7 Wanchuan Zhang 8 Nan Wang 8 Yumeng Peng 1 Haotian Lin 1 Jiangyue Feng 1 Chengfeng Qin 4 Wei Chen 1 Qi Gao 9 Rui Zhang 10 Yuan Cao 11 Hui Zhong 12
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China.
  • 2 Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, China.
  • 3 Department of Basic Medical Sciences, The 960th Hospital of PLA, Jinan, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, AMMS, Beijing, China.
  • 5 Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Third Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
  • 6 Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, AMMS, Beijing, China.
  • 7 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Taian City Central Hospital Branch, Taian, China.
  • 8 Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, China.
  • 9 Beijing Hotgen Biotech Co., Ltd., Beijing, China.
  • 10 Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, China. [email protected].
  • 11 Department of Basic Medical Sciences, The 960th Hospital of PLA, Jinan, China. [email protected].
  • 12 Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects host cells through binding of the viral spike protein (SARS-2-S) to the cell-surface receptor angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2). Here we show that the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) scavenger receptor B type 1 (SR-B1) facilitates ACE2-dependent entry of SARS-CoV-2. We find that the S1 subunit of SARS-2-S binds to Cholesterol and possibly to HDL components to enhance viral uptake in vitro. SR-B1 expression facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry into ACE2-expressing cells by augmenting virus attachment. Blockade of the cholesterol-binding site on SARS-2-S1 with a monoclonal antibody, or treatment of cultured cells with pharmacological SR-B1 antagonists, inhibits HDL-enhanced SARS-CoV-2 Infection. We further show that SR-B1 is coexpressed with ACE2 in human pulmonary tissue and in several extrapulmonary tissues. Our findings reveal that SR-B1 acts as a host factor that promotes SARS-CoV-2 entry and may help explain viral tropism, identify a possible molecular connection between COVID-19 and lipoprotein metabolism, and highlight SR-B1 as a potential therapeutic target to interfere with SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

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