Deciphering the cleavage sites of 3C-like protease in Gammacoronaviruses and Deltacoronaviruses

Abstract

Coronaviruses replicate by using the 3C-like protease (3CL^pro) to cleave polyprotein precursors and host proteins. However, current tools for identifying 3CL^pro cleavage sites are limited, particularly in Gammacoronaviruses (GammaCoV) and Deltacoronaviruses (DeltaCoV). This study aims to fill this gap by identifying 3CL^pro cleavage sites in these viruses to provide deeper insights into their pathogenic mechanisms. By integrating sequence alignments and structural model comparisons, we developed a position-specific scoring matrix (PSSM) based on self-cleavage motifs, revealing specific preferences for each residue. Utilizing AlphaFold2's predicted alignment error (PAE) and predicted local distance difference test (pLDDT), we found that most cleavage sequences are located in regions with high PAE and low pLDDT values. KEGG pathway analysis showed that potential host protein cleavage targets are mainly concentrated in pathways related to nucleo-cytoplasmic transport and endocytosis. Through in vitro cleavage experiments and mutational analysis, we identified and validated three high-scoring proteins—nucleoporin 58 (NUP58), cell division cycle 73 (CDC73), and signal transducing adaptor molecule 2 (STAM2). These findings suggest that 3CL^pro not only plays a vital role in viral replication but may also influence host cell functions by cleaving host proteins. This study provides an effective tool for identifying 3CL^pro cleavage sites, revealing the pathogenic mechanisms of coronaviruses, and offering new insights for developing potential therapeutic targets.