Mechanosensing view of SARS-CoV-2 infection by a DNA nano-assembly

Jialu Zhang; Yihao Huang; Miao Sun; Ting Song; Shuang Wan; Chaoyong Yang; Yanling Song

doi:10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.101048

Mechanosensing view of SARS-CoV-2 infection by a DNA nano-assembly

Cell Rep Phys Sci. 2022 Sep 21;3(9):101048. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.101048.

Authors

Jialu Zhang¹, Yihao Huang¹, Miao Sun¹, Ting Song¹, Shuang Wan¹, Chaoyong Yang^{1

2}, Yanling Song¹

Affiliations

¹ The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, the Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China.
² Institute of Molecular Medicine, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China.

Abstract

The mechanical force between a virus and its host cell plays a critical role in viral infection. However, characterization of the virus-cell mechanical force at the whole-virus level remains a challenge. Herein, we develop a platform in which the virus is anchored with multivalence-controlled aptamers to achieve transfer of the virus-cell mechanical force to a DNA tension gauge tether (Virus-TGT). When the TGT is ruptured, the complex of binding module-virus-cell is detached from the substrate, accompanied by decreased host cell-substrate adhesion, thus revealing the mechanical force between whole-virus and cell. Using Virus-TGT, direct evidence about the biomechanical force between SARS-CoV-2 and the host cell is obtained. The relative mechanical force gap (<10 pN) at the cellular level between the wild-type virus to cell and a variant virus to cell is measured, suggesting a possible positive correlation between virus-cell mechanical force and infectivity. Overall, this strategy provides a new perspective to probe the SARS-CoV-2 mechanical force.

Keywords: DNA nano-assembly; DNA tension gauge tether; SARS-CoV-2; aptamer; host-pathogen interactions; mechanical force.