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Nonmuscle myosin heavy chain IIA facilitates SARS-CoV-2 infection in human pulmonary cells

Significance SARS-CoV-2 primarily targets the lung and enters the body through ACE2 receptors. However, the expression of ACE2 is extremely low in the airways. In this study, we utilized APEX2… Click to show full abstract

Significance SARS-CoV-2 primarily targets the lung and enters the body through ACE2 receptors. However, the expression of ACE2 is extremely low in the airways. In this study, we utilized APEX2 proximity-labeling techniques and identified nonmuscle myosin heavy chain IIA (MYH9) as an ACE2 coreceptor to promote SARS-CoV-2 infection of human lung cells, as well as infection of pan-coronavirus. We demonstrated that MYH9 colocalized with SARS-CoV-2 S primarily at the membrane, which interacts with the S2 subunit and the S1-NTD subunit through its C-terminal domain, and enhances SARS-CoV-2 entry in an ACE2-dependent manner. Our results define MYH9 as a key host factor that facilitates SARS-CoV-2 and pan-coronavirus infection, which may serve as a potential target for future clinical intervention strategies. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), binds to host receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) through its spike (S) glycoprotein, which mediates membrane fusion and viral entry. However, the expression of ACE2 is extremely low in a variety of human tissues, especially in the airways. Thus, other coreceptors and/or cofactors on the surface of host cells may contribute to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, we identified nonmuscle myosin heavy chain IIA (MYH9) as an important host factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection of human pulmonary cells by using APEX2 proximity-labeling techniques. Genetic ablation of MYH9 significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection in wild type (WT) A549 and Calu-3 cells, and overexpression of MYH9 enhanced the pseudovirus infection in WT A549 and H1299 cells. MYH9 was colocalized with the SARS-CoV-2 S and directly interacted with SARS-CoV-2 S through the S2 subunit and S1-NTD (N-terminal domain) by its C-terminal domain (designated as PRA). Further experiments suggested that endosomal or myosin inhibitors effectively block the viral entry of SARS-CoV-2 into PRA-A549 cells, while transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) and cathepsin B and L (CatB/L) inhibitors do not, indicating that MYH9 promotes SARS-CoV-2 endocytosis and bypasses TMPRSS2 and CatB/L pathway. Finally, we demonstrated that loss of MYH9 reduces authentic SARS-CoV-2 infection in Calu-3, ACE2-A549, and ACE2-H1299 cells. Together, our results suggest that MYH9 is a candidate host factor for SARS-CoV-2, which mediates the virus entering host cells by endocytosis in an ACE2-dependent manner, and may serve as a potential target for future clinical intervention strategies.

Keywords: myosin heavy; cov infection; sars cov; nonmuscle myosin; infection; host

Journal Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Year Published: 2021

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