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The total number and mass of SARS-CoV-2 virions.

ABSTRACT: Quantitatively describing the time course of the SARS-CoV-2 infection within an infected individual is important for understanding the current global pandemic and possible ways to combat it. Here we integrate the best current knowledge about the typical viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in bodily fluids and host tissues to estimate the total number and mass of SARS-CoV-2 virions in an infected person. We estimate that each infected person carries 109-1011 virions during peak infection, with a total mass in the range of 1-100 μg, which curiously implies that all SARS-CoV-2 virions currently circulating within human hosts have a collective mass of only 0.1-10 kg. We combine our estimates with the available literature on host immune response and viral mutation rates to demonstrate how antibodies markedly outnumber the spike proteins and the genetic diversity of virions in an infected host covers all possible single nucleotide substitutions.

SUBMITTER: Sender R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7685332 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The total number and mass of SARS-CoV-2 virions.

Sender Ron R Bar-On Yinon M YM Gleizer Shmuel S Bernsthein Biana B Flamholz Avi A Phillips Rob R Milo Ron R

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 20210405

Quantitatively describing the time course of the SARS-CoV-2 infection within an infected individual is important for understanding the current global pandemic and possible ways to combat it. Here we integrate the best current knowledge about the typical viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in bodily fluids and host tissues to estimate the total number and mass of SARS-CoV-2 virions in an infected person. We estimate that each infected person carries 10<sup>9</sup>-10<sup>11</sup> virions during peak infecti ...[more]

PMID: 33236021

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The total number and mass of SARS-CoV-2 virions.

Project description:Quantitatively describing the time course of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection within an infected individual is important for understanding the current global pandemic and possible ways to combat it. Here we integrate the best current knowledge about the typical viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in bodily fluids and host tissues to estimate the total number and mass of SARS-CoV-2 virions in an infected person. We estimate that each infected person carries 109 to 1011 virions during peak infection, with a total mass in the range of 1 μg to 100 μg, which curiously implies that all SARS-CoV-2 virions currently circulating within human hosts have a collective mass of only 0.1 kg to 10 kg. We combine our estimates with the available literature on host immune response and viral mutation rates to demonstrate how antibodies markedly outnumber the spike proteins, and the genetic diversity of virions in an infected host covers all possible single nucleotide substitutions.

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Cryo-EM structure of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteins on intact virions

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Subtomogram averaging and classification of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteins on intact virions

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Neutralization Assay with SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 Spike Pseudotyped Murine Leukemia Virions.

Project description:Antibody neutralization is an important prognostic factor in many viral diseases. To easily and rapidly measure titers of neutralizing antibodies in serum or plasma, we developed pseudovirion particles composed of the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 incorporated onto murine leukemia virus capsids and a modified minimal MLV genome encoding firefly luciferase. These pseudovirions provide a practical means of assessing immune responses under laboratory conditions consistent with biocontainment level 2.

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Project description:Understanding the virology of the coronavirus at the structural level has gained utmost importance to overcome the constant and long-term health complications induced by them. In this work, the light scattering properties of SARS-CoV-2 of size 140 nm were simulated by using discrete dipole approximation (DDA) for two incident wavelengths 200 nm and 350 nm, respectively. Three different 3-dimensional (3D) models of SARS-CoV-2 corresponding to 15, 20, and 40 numbers of spike proteins on the viral capsid surface were constructed as target geometries for the DDA calculations. These models were assessed by employing Stokes-Mueller polarimetry to obtain individual polarization properties such as degree of polarization (DOP), degree of linear polarization (DOLP), and degree of circular polarization (DOCP). Irrespective of its spike numbers, all the coronavirus models were found to display higher DOP and DOCP values and negligibly small DOLP values for circularly polarized incident light, indicating the presence of chiral structures. On the other hand, the lack of understanding about the dependence of the Mueller matrix on its microstructural properties was overcome by transforming 16 Mueller elements into sub-matrices with specific structural and physical properties using Lu-Chipman-based Mueller matrix polar decomposition method. The obtained properties such as retardance, diattenuation, and depolarization were used for investigating the composition and microstructural information. The approach presented in this work has the potential to understand the virology of the coronavirus at the structural level and, therefore, will be beneficial in developing effective detection strategies by exploiting their characteristic electromagnetic scattering signatures.

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Supramolecular Organization of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 Virions Revealed by Coarse-Grained Models of Intact Virus Envelopes.

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Structures and distributions of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins on intact virions.

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Topography, Spike Dynamics, and Nanomechanics of Individual Native SARS-CoV-2 Virions.

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Structures from "Engineering Neutralizing SARS-CoV Antibodies to Bind SARS-CoV-2"

Project description: Not available

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