On 2021-11-29 22:42:36, user Martin Rouse wrote:
Flower et al. PNAS 2021 showed that deletion of the 'ARK' of ORF8 is involved in dimerization. Wouldn't deletion of this sequence affect ORF8 dimerization? If the 'ARK' sequence is really acting as a 'histone mimic' and getting acetylated, wouldn't mutation of the 'K' to anything abolish its function? If acetylation of the 'K' is actually important for SARS-CoV-2 biology, generating a K-to-anything substitution should work to generate a damaged ORF8 protein. Perhaps the phenotypes observed have nothing to do with a H3K9-like sequence, and rather deletion of this sequence simply abolishes the function of ORF8 dimers...