The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus 3a protein may function as a modulator of the trafficking properties of the spike protein

摘要

BackgroundA recent publication reported that a tyrosine-dependent sorting signal, present in cytoplasmic tail of the spike protein of most coronaviruses, mediates the intracellular retention of the spike protein. This motif is missing from the spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV), resulting in high level of surface expression of the spike protein when it is expressed on its own in vitro.