The Biochemistry Authentic Scientific Inquiry Laboratory (BASIL) has provided undergraduate biochemistry students with an inquiry-based investigation into protein structure using a combination of computational and wet-lab experimentation. Based on the skill set developed, BASIL faculty and students were invited to join a week-long online boot camp hosted by Dr. Stephen Burley and colleagues at the Rutgers University Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine in July 2020. This session, entitled “The Summer of the Coronaverse,” saw teams of researchers analyzing genomic data to track emergence of different variants in SARS-CoV-2 Nsp5 (also known as main protease or Mpro) sequence. Teams used Mol*and FoldIt to model the protease and further analyze mutations of amino acids, categorizing them as conservative/nonconservative, and by location with the protein (surface/interior/boundary). Most mutations from existing SARS-CoV-2 strains were located distal to the enzyme’s active site and did not greatly effect the estimated protein stability relative to the parental sequence. As a result of the week spent investing these protease mutations, undergraduate students (a) learned to use online, accessible genomic and structure analysis tools, (b) experienced partnering with a large team of investigators, and (c) contributed to ongoing science, including publishing a manuscript on their results.
Support or Funding Information
Supported by the National Science Foundation, the Rutgers Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and the Hope College Schaap research fund.
