Identification of a guanine-specific pocket in the protein N of SARS-CoV-2

The SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N) is responsible for RNA binding. Here we report the crystal structure of the C-terminal domain (NCTD) in open and closed conformations and in complex with guanine triphosphate, GTP. The crystal structure and biochemical studies reveal a specific interaction between the guanine, a nucleotide enriched in the packaging signals regions of coronaviruses, and a highly conserved tryptophan residue (W330). In addition, EMSA assays with SARS-CoV-2 derived RNA hairpin loops from a putative viral packaging sequence showed the preference interaction of the N-CTD to RNA oligonucleotides containing G and the loss of the specificity in the mutant W330A. Here we propose that this interaction may facilitate the viral assembly process. In summary, we have identified a specific guanine-binding pocket in the N protein that may be used to design viral assembly inhibitors.

The table below summarises the geometric issues observed across the polymeric chains and their t to the electron density. The red, orange, yellow and green segments of the lower bar indicate the fraction of residues that contain outliers for >=3, 2, 1 and 0 types of geometric quality criteria respectively. A grey segment represents the fraction of residues that are not modelled. The numeric value for each fraction is indicated below the corresponding segment, with a dot representing fractions <=5% The upper red bar (where present) indicates the fraction of residues that have poor t to the electron density. The numeric value is given above the bar.

Mol Chain Length
Quality of chain In the tables below, the ZeroOcc column contains the number of atoms modelled with zero occupancy, the AltConf column contains the number of residues with at least one atom in alternate conformation and the Trace column contains the number of residues modelled with at most 2 atoms.
Molecule 1  3 Residue-property plots i O These plots are drawn for all protein, RNA, DNA and oligosaccharide chains in the entry. The rst graphic for a chain summarises the proportions of the various outlier classes displayed in the second graphic. The second graphic shows the sequence view annotated by issues in geometry and electron density. Residues are color-coded according to the number of geometric quality criteria for which they contain at least one outlier: green = 0, yellow = 1, orange = 2 and red = 3 or more. A red dot above a residue indicates a poor t to the electron density (RSRZ > 2). Stretches of 2 or more consecutive residues without any outlier are shown as a green connector. Residues present in the sample, but not in the model, are shown in grey.
• The all-atom clashscore is dened as the number of clashes found per 1000 atoms (including hydrogen atoms). The all-atom clashscore for this structure is 4.
All (31)  There are no Ramachandran outliers to report.

Protein sidechains i O
In the following table, the Percentiles column shows the percent sidechain outliers of the chain as a percentile score with respect to all X-ray entries followed by that with respect to entries of similar resolution.
The Analysed column shows the number of residues for which the sidechain conformation was analysed, and the total number of residues. In the following table, the Counts columns list the number of bonds (or angles) for which Mogul statistics could be retrieved, the number of bonds (or angles) that are observed in the model and the number of bonds (or angles) that are dened in the Chemical Component Dictionary. The Link column lists molecule types, if any, to which the group is linked. The Z score for a bond length (or angle) is the number of standard deviations the observed value is removed from the expected value. A bond length (or angle) with |Z| > 2 is considered an outlier worth inspection. RMSZ is the root-mean-square of all Z scores of the bond lengths (or angles). The following is a two-dimensional graphical depiction of Mogul quality analysis of bond lengths, 7O36 bond angles, torsion angles, and ring geometry for all instances of the Ligand of Interest. In addition, ligands with molecular weight > 250 and outliers as shown on the validation Tables will also be included. For torsion angles, if less then 5% of the Mogul distribution of torsion angles is within 10 degrees of the torsion angle in question, then that torsion angle is considered an outlier. Any bond that is central to one or more torsion angles identied as an outlier by Mogul will be highlighted in the graph. For rings, the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) between the ring in question and similar rings identied by Mogul is calculated over all ring torsion angles. If the average RMSD is greater than 60 degrees and the minimal RMSD between the ring in question and any Mogul-identied rings is also greater than 60 degrees, then that ring is considered an outlier. The outliers are highlighted in purple. The color gray indicates Mogul did not nd sucient equivalents in the CSD to analyse the geometry.
Ligand GTP D 401 The following is a graphical depiction of the model t to experimental electron density of all instances of the Ligand of Interest. In addition, ligands with molecular weight > 250 and outliers as shown on the geometry validation Tables will also be included. Each t is shown from dierent orientation to approximate a three-dimensional view.
Electron density around GTP A 401: