SARS-CoV-2 NSP12 associates with TRiC and the P323L substitution acts as a host adaption

Abstract

ABSTRACT SARS-CoV-2 emerged in the human population in late 2019, and human-to-human transmission has dominated the evolutionary landscape and driven the selection of different lineages. The first major change that resulted in increased transmission was the D614G substitution in the spike protein. This was accompanied by the P323L substitution in the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NSP12). Together with D614G, these changes are the root of the predominant global SARS-CoV-2 landscape. Here, we found that NSP12 formed an interactome with cellular proteins. The functioning of NSP12 was dependent on the T-complex protein ring complex, a molecular chaperone. In contrast, there was a differential association between NSP12 variants and components of a phosphatase complex (PP2/PP2A and STRN3). The virus expressing NSP12 L323 was less sensitive to perturbations in PP2A and supports the paradigm that ongoing genotype to phenotype adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in humans is not exclusively restricted to the spike protein. IMPORTANCE SARS-CoV-2 has caused a worldwide health and economic crisis. During the course of the pandemic, genetic changes occurred in the virus, which have resulted in new properties of the virus—particularly around gains in transmission and the ability to partially evade either natural or vaccine-acquired immunity. Some of these viruses have been labeled Variants of Concern (VoCs). At the root of all VoCs are two mutations, one in the viral spike protein that has been very well characterized and the other in the virus polymerase (NSP12). This is the viral protein responsible for replicating the genome. We show that NSP12 associates with host cell proteins that act as a scaffold to facilitate the function of this protein. Furthermore, we found that different variants of NSP12 interact with host cell proteins in subtle and different ways, which affect function.