01/12/2022

Insights into Hepatitis C Virus E2core Interactions with Human Cellular Receptor CD81 at Different pHs from Molecular Simulations

Title: Insights into Hepatitis C Virus E2core Interactions with Human Cellular Receptor CD81 at Different pHs from Molecular Simulations
Authors:

Risueño, C; Abrescia, NGA; Coluzza, I.

Journal: J. Phys. Chem. B 2022. Advanced Article. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04697

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the second viral agent that causes the majority of chronic hepatic infections worldwide, following Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. HCV infection comprises several steps, from the attachment to the receptors to the delivery of the viral genetic material and replication inside the cells. Tetraspanin CD81 is a key entry factor for HCV as it accompanies the virus during attachment and internalization through clathrin-mediated endocytosis. HCV-CD81 binding takes place through the viral glycoprotein E2. We performed full-atom molecular dynamics simulations reproducing the pH conditions that occur during the viral attachment to the hepatocytes (pH 7.4) and internalization (pH 6.2–4.6). We observed that changing the pH from 7.4 to 6.2 triggers a large conformational change in the binding orientation between E2core (E2core corresponds to residues 412–645 of the viral glycoprotein E2) and CD81LEL (CD81LEL corresponds to residues 112–204 of CD81) that occurs even more rapidly at low pH 4.6. This pH-induced switching mechanism has never been observed before and could allow the virus particles to sense the right moment during the maturation of the endosome to start fusion.