Direct Cryo-ET observation of platelet deformation induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

Christopher Cyrus Kuhn, Nirakar Basnet, Satish Bodakuntla, Pelayo Alvarez-Brecht, Scott Nichols, Antonio Martinez-Sanchez, Lorenzo Agostini, Young-Min Soh, Junichi Takagi, Christian Biertümpfel and Naoko Mizuno ()
Additional contact information
Christopher Cyrus Kuhn: National Institutes of Health
Nirakar Basnet: National Institutes of Health
Satish Bodakuntla: National Institutes of Health
Pelayo Alvarez-Brecht: National Institutes of Health
Scott Nichols: National Institutes of Health
Antonio Martinez-Sanchez: University of Oviedo
Lorenzo Agostini: National Institutes of Health
Young-Min Soh: National Institutes of Health
Junichi Takagi: Osaka University
Christian Biertümpfel: National Institutes of Health
Naoko Mizuno: National Institutes of Health

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Its high pathogenicity is due to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S protein) contacting host-cell receptors. A critical hallmark of COVID-19 is the occurrence of coagulopathies. Here, we report the direct observation of the interactions between S protein and platelets. Live imaging shows that the S protein triggers platelets to deform dynamically, in some cases, leading to their irreversible activation. Cellular cryo-electron tomography reveals dense decorations of S protein on the platelet surface, inducing filopodia formation. Hypothesizing that S protein binds to filopodia-inducing integrin receptors, we tested the binding to RGD motif-recognizing platelet integrins and find that S protein recognizes integrin αvβ3. Our results infer that the stochastic activation of platelets is due to weak interactions of S protein with integrin, which can attribute to the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and the occurrence of rare but severe coagulopathies.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36279-5 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-36279-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36279-5

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().