SARS-CoV-2 Protein S Fusion Peptide Is Capable of Wrapping Negatively-Charged Phospholipids.

ABSTRACT: COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, which is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA enveloped virus, emerged in late 2019 and was declared a worldwide pandemic in early 2020 causing more than 600 million infections so far and more than 6 million deaths in the world. Although new vaccines have been implemented, the pandemic continues to impact world health dramatically. Membrane fusion, critical for the viral entry into the host cell, is one of the main targets for the development of novel antiviral therapies to combat COVID-19. The S2 subunit of the viral S protein, a class I membrane fusion protein, contains the fusion domain which is directly implicated in the fusion mechanism. The knowledge of the membrane fusion mechanism at the molecular level will undoubtedly result in the development of

SUBMITTER: Villalain J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10057416 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature