The spike glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, has attracted attention for its vaccine potential and binding capacity to host cell surface receptors. Much of this research focus has centered on the ectodomain of the spike protein. The ectodomain is anchored to a transmembrane region, followed by a cytoplasmic tail. Here we report a distant sequence similarity between the cysteine-rich cytoplasmic tail of the coronavirus spike protein and the hepcidin protein that is found in humans and other vertebrates. Hepcidin is thought to be the key regulator of iron metabolism in humans through its inhibition of the iron-exporting protein ferroportin. An implication of this preliminary observation is to suggest a potential route of investigation in the coronavirus research field making use of an already-established literature on the interplay of local and systemic iron regulation, cytokine-mediated inflammatory processes, respiratory infections and the hepcidin protein. The question of possible homology and an evolutionary connection between the viral spike protein and hepcidin is not assessed in this report, but some scenarios for its study are discussed.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 和铁失调：铁调素与新型冠状病毒刺突糖蛋白之间的远距离序列相似性

引起 COVID-19 的 SARS-CoV-2 病毒的刺突糖蛋白因其疫苗潜力和与宿主细胞表面受体的结合能力而备受关注。这项研究的大部分重点都集中在刺突蛋白的胞外域。胞外域锚定到跨膜区域，然后是细胞质尾部。在这里，我们报告了冠状病毒刺突蛋白富含半胱氨酸的细胞质尾部与人类和其他脊椎动物中发现的铁调素蛋白之间的远距离序列相似性。铁调素被认为是人类铁代谢的关键调节剂，它通过抑制铁输出蛋白 ferroportin。这一初步观察的一个含义是，利用已经建立的关于局部和全身铁调节、细胞因子介导的炎症过程、呼吸道感染和铁调素蛋白相互作用的文献，提出了一种在冠状病毒研究领域进行研究的潜在途径。本报告未评估病毒刺突蛋白和铁调素之间可能的同源性和进化联系的问题，但讨论了其研究的一些情景。