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Project results
The structure of the SARS-Cov-2 RNA channel has been recently published, and it allows us to wonder at the beauty and complexity of this protein machinery:
Image from: Huang et al., Nature 2024
To characterize its function, we developed a methodology to reconstitute these proteins into the complex membrane geometry they find in cells upon viral infection using dumbbell-shaped giant unilamellar vesicles:
We tested this method using "easier" proteins, to begin with. For instance, we tested a protein called Mic10, that should behave in a similar way as nsp3/nsp4: we see that indeed Mic10 localizes at the neck of our dumbbell-shaped vesicles, as expected:
For those eager to know the details, you can quench your thirst for knowledge by reading our two manuscripts that we are on our way to publish:
Interaction hierarchy among Cdv proteins drives recruitment to membrane necks. Nicola De Franceschi, Alberto Blanch-Jover, Cees Dekker. Under revision in eLife.
Detergent-free reconstitution of transmembrane proteins in giant liposomes of complex curvature by the Synthetic Membrane Transfer. Hemraj Meena, Rafal Zdanowicz, Tobias Bock-Bierbaum, Till Stephan, Sofie Dorothea Ottsen Knudsen, Stefan Jakobs, Oliver Daumke, Per Amstrup Pedersen, Nicola De Franceschi. Submitted.
We are currently testing how nsp3/nsp4 behave in our vesicle reconstitution, to be able to then test their functionality and understand how the pore works from a mechanistic point of view.
In addition, we are also working at several other cool ideas that came out of this project.
However, we can only show you data that are already published, or on their way to be published. So stay tuned and come back to this page, we will update it as soon as we can.
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