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Hemagglutinin-esterases (HEs) are bimodular envelope proteins of orthomyxoviruses, toroviruses, and coronaviruses with a carbohydrate-binding "lectin" domain appended to a receptor-destroying sialate-O-acetylesterase ("esterase"). In concert, these domains facilitate dynamic virion attachment to cell-surface sialoglycans. Most HEs (type I) target 9-O-acetylated sialic acids (9-O-Ac-Sias), but one group of coronaviruses switched to using 4-O-Ac-Sias instead (type II). This specificity shift required quasisynchronous adaptations in the Sia-binding sites of both lectin and esterase domains. Previously, a partially disordered crystal structure of a type II HE revealed how the shift in lectin ligand specificity was achieved. How the switch in esterase substrate specificity was realized remained unresolved, however. Here, we present a complete structure of a type II HE with a receptor analog in the catalytic site and identify the mutations underlying the 9-O- to 4-O-Ac-Sia substrate switch. We show that (i) common principles pertaining to the stereochemistry of protein-carbohydrate interactions were at the core of the transition in lectin ligand and esterase substrate specificity; (ii) in consequence, the switch in O-Ac-Sia specificity could be readily accomplished via convergent intramolecular coevolution with only modest architectural changes in lectin and esterase domains; and (iii) a single, inconspicuous Ala-to-Ser substitution in the catalytic site was key to the emergence of the type II HEs. Our findings provide fundamental insights into how proteins "see" sugars and how this affects protein and virus evolution.

Original publication

DOI

10.1073/pnas.1519881113

Type

Journal article

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Publication Date

16/05/2016

Volume

113

Pages

E3111 - E3119

Addresses

Virology Division, Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands;

Keywords

Colon, Animals, Humans, Mice, Coronavirus, Sialic Acids, Lectins, Receptors, Virus, Viral Fusion Proteins, Hemagglutinins, Viral, Crystallography, X-Ray, Binding Sites, Catalytic Domain, Substrate Specificity, Mutation, Stereoisomerism, Molecular Docking Simulation