Binding and compaction function of structural domains of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein on a single stranded nucleic acid substrate

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) encodes for four major structural proteins. The nucleocapsid (N) protein is highly conserved among coronaviruses and is the only structural protein that binds the viral RNA packaged in the virion. One function of the N protein is the formation of a helical ribonucleoprotein (RNP) structure, which organizes and compacts the viral RNA inside the virion This process requires both nucleic-acid (NA) binding and interprotein interactions, which have been associated with the two structured N-terminal and C-terminal domains (NTD and CTD) within the N protein.