SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein (N protein) (N protein)

The SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein (N protein) is a critical structural component of the virus, responsible for packaging the viral RNA genome into a ribonucleoprotein complex (UniProt P0DTC9). Along with other viral antigens such as the Spike (S), Membrane (M), and Envelope (E) proteins, it forms the structural basis of the SARS-CoV-2 virion. The N protein is a highly basic phosphoprotein that plays essential roles in viral replication, transcription, and assembly through interactions with the membrane protein (Cubuk et al., 2021). It also acts as an interferon antagonist, helping the virus evade the host's innate immune response (Dutta et al., 2020). In clinical practice, the N protein is the primary target for rapid antigen diagnostic tests due to its high abundance during infection. While most current vaccines focus on the spike protein, the N protein is a key candidate for next-generation vaccines because it is more conserved across variants and can elicit robust T-cell responses. Research into small-molecule inhibitors, such as naproxen, focuses on disrupting the N protein's RNA-binding domains to halt viral proliferation (Lejal et al., 2021).

Other names

Nucleocapsid proteinSARS-CoV-2 N-proteinProtein NNCAP_SARS2

Inhibition of viral RNA-binding and ribonucleoprotein complex assembly (Lejal et al., 2021); induction of T-cell mediated immunity (for vaccines).