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

Shubhada K Chothe; Padmaja Jakka; Veda Sheersh Boorla; Santhamani Ramasamy; Abhinay Gontu; Ruth H Nissly; Justin Brown; Gregory Turner; Brent J Sewall; DeeAnn M Reeder; Kenneth A Field; Julie B Engiles; Saranya Amirthalingam; Abirami Ravichandran; Lindsey LaBella; Meera Surendran Nair; Costas D Maranas; Suresh V Kuchipudi

doi:10.3390/v15051103

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

Viruses. 2023 Apr 30;15(5):1103. doi: 10.3390/v15051103.

Authors

Shubhada K Chothe^{1

2}, Padmaja Jakka^{1

2}, Veda Sheersh Boorla³, Santhamani Ramasamy^{1

2}, Abhinay Gontu^{1

2}, Ruth H Nissly^{1

2}, Justin Brown^{1

4}, Gregory Turner⁴, Brent J Sewall⁵, DeeAnn M Reeder⁶, Kenneth A Field⁶, Julie B Engiles⁷, Saranya Amirthalingam¹, Abirami Ravichandran¹, Lindsey LaBella^{1

2}, Meera Surendran Nair^{1

2}, Costas D Maranas³, Suresh V Kuchipudi^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
² Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁴ Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2001 Elmerton Ave, Harrisburg, PA 17110, USA.
⁵ Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
⁶ Department of Biology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837, USA.
⁷ Departments of Pathobiology and Clinical Studies, New Bolton Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USA.

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.

Keywords: ACE2; SARS-CoV-2; coronaviruses; little brown bat.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 / metabolism
Animals
COVID-19*
Chiroptera*
Humans
SARS-CoV-2 / metabolism
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / metabolism

Substances

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
spike protein, SARS-CoV-2

Grants and funding

This research was funded partially by the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences endowed chair funding (S.V.K.), and white-nose syndrome grant F15AP00956 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (to B.J.S., G.G.T., and D.M.R.).