How the Strain Origin of Zika Virus NS1 Protein Impacts Its Dynamics and Implications to Their Differential Virulence

Author(s)

Poveda-Cuevas, Sergio A. ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]} ; Barroso da Silva, Fernando Luis ^{[1, 2, 5, 3, 4]} ; Etchebest, Catherine ^{[6, 1, 4, 7, 8]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, BR-14040903 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Programa Interunidades Bioinformat, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut Ribeirao Preto, Dept Ciencias BioMol, BR-14040903 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Paris, Int Lab Struct Bioinformat, BR-14040903 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[5] North Carolina State Univ, Dept Chem & Biomol Engn, Raleigh, NC 27695 - USA

^[6] Inst Natl Transfus Sanguine, F-75015 Paris - France

^[7] INSERM, Dynam Struct & Interact Mol, Biol Integree Globule Rouge Equipe 2, UMR S 1134, Paris - France

^[8] Univ Paris, F-75013 Paris - France

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL INFORMATION AND MODELING; v. 61, n. 3, p. 1516-1530, MAR 22 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Viruses can impact and affect human populations in a severe way. The appropriate differentiation among several species or strains of viruses is one of the biggest challenges for virology and infectiology studies. The detection of measurables-quantified discrepancies allows for more accurate clinical diagnoses and treatments for viral diseases. In the present study, we have used a computational approach to explore the dynamical properties of the nonstructural protein 1 from two strains of Zika virus. Our results show that despite a high sequence similarity, the two viral proteins from different origins can exhibit significant dissimilar structural dynamics, which complement their reported differential virulence. The present study opens up new ways in the understanding of the infectivity for these biological entities. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/16116-3 - Molecular mechanisms of electrostatic origin responsible for protein complexation
• Grantee: Fernando Luis Barroso da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 20/07158-2 - Developing and applying computer simulation methods to enhance the molecular understanding to engineer functionalized biomaterials
• Grantee: Fernando Luis Barroso da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants