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Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) Support the Binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Are Likely Susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Chothe, Shubhada K.
; 
Jakka, Padmaja
; 
Boorla, Veda Sheersh
; 
Ramasamy, Santhamani
; 
Gontu, Abhinay
; 
Nissly, Ruth H.
; 
Brown, Justin
; 
Turner, Gregory
; ; 
Reeder, DeeAnn M.
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Journal article
Date
2023-04-30
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Biology
Subject
SARS-CoV-2
 ACE2
 Little brown bat
 Coronaviruses
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/9073
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COVID-19 Research
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SewallEtAl-JournalArticle-2023-04.pdf
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v15051103
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), believed to have originated from a bat species, can infect a wide range of non-human hosts. Bats are known to harbor hundreds of coronaviruses capable of spillover into human populations. Recent studies have shown a significant variation in the susceptibility among bat species to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We show that little brown bats (LBB) express angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor and the transmembrane serine protease 2, which are accessible to and support SARS-CoV-2 binding. All-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that LBB ACE2 formed strong electrostatic interactions with the RBD similar to human and cat ACE2 proteins. In summary, LBBs, a widely distributed North American bat species, could be at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and potentially serve as a natural reservoir. Finally, our framework, combining in vitro and in silico methods, is a useful tool to assess the SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility of bats and other animal species.
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Chothe, S.K.; Jakka, P.; Boorla, V.S.; Ramasamy, S.; Gontu, A.; Nissly, R.H.; Brown, J.; Turner, G.; Sewall, B.J.; Reeder, D.M.; et al. Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) Support the Binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Are Likely Susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Viruses 2023, 15, 1103. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15051103
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MDPI
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Viruses, Vol. 15
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