SARS-CoV-2 ORF7a Antibody #67750

SARS-CoV-2 ORF7a is a type-I transmembrane protein with an amino-terminal immunoglobulin (IgG)-like domain involved in immune modulation and a short cytosolic tail that contains an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention motif that mediates trafficking to the ER-Golgi intermediate complex (ERGIC) (1). Studies of ORF7a in SARS-CoV identified roles in apoptosis and cell cycle progression (2-4). Regulation of apoptosis has been attributed to an association with Bcl-xL, a key pro-survival Bcl-2 family member (5). Studies in both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 have shown that ORF7a can promote viral release through inhibition of BST2 (6,7). There are also reports that SARS-CoV-2 contributes to immune regulation as part of the viral life cycle. It can inhibit type I interferon signaling through inhibition of STAT2 phosphorylation (8). However, it can also lead to activation of NF-κB and induce the expression of inflammatory cytokines (9). ORF7a has also been shown to inhibit late stages of autophagy by reducing lysosomal acidity (10).