SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase Antibody #67988

The cause of the COVID-19 pandemic is a novel and highly pathogenic coronavirus, termed SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2). SARS-CoV-2 is a member of the Coronaviridae family of viruses (1). The genome of SARS-CoV-2 is relatively large and encodes up to 29 open reading frames (ORFs). These include ORF1a and ORF1b (further processed into 16 non-structural proteins), 9 accessory proteins, and 4 canonical structural proteins: spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N) (2). 

SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, RdRp, is a non-structural protein (Nsp12) translated from ORF1b. It is the key enzyme essential for transcription of viral RNA from RNA templates and is therefore critical to replication of the virus (2). The polymerase has a structure similar to all viral RNA RdRps, the so-called hand structure: the catalytic module consists of palm, fingers, and thumb domains, forming the encircled human right hand model. Some conservation exists between different RNA viruses in the palm and finger domains, but there are significant differences in other domains reflecting different catalytic modes of action (3). SARS-CoV-2 RdRp requires accessory proteins, Nsp7 and Nsp8, along with Nsp14 for transcriptional activity (4).