Zinc plays a crucial role in the process of virion maturation inside the host cell. The accessory Cys-rich proteins expressed in SARS-CoV-2 by genes ORF7a and ORF8 are likely involved in zinc binding and in interactions with cellular antigens activated by extensive disulfide bonds. In this report we provide a proof of concept for the feasibility of a structural study of orf7a and orf8 proteins. A conceivable hypothesis is that lack of cellular zinc, or substitution thereof, might lead to a significant slowing down of viral maturation.

中文翻译：

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通过锌结合稳定SARS-CoV-2病毒粒子

锌在宿主细胞内部的病毒体成熟过程中起着至关重要的作用。基因ORF7a和ORF8在SARS-CoV-2中表达的富含Cys的辅助蛋白可能与锌结合以及与广泛的二硫键激活的细胞抗原的相互作用有关。在本报告中，我们为orf7a和orf8蛋白的结构研究的可行性提供了概念证明。可以想到的假设是缺乏细胞锌或其替代物可能导致病毒成熟显着减慢。