Bioinformatics studies on a function of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein as the binding of host sialic acid glycans.

ABSTRACT: SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 do not appear to have functions of a hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. This is a mystery, because sugar binding activities appear essential to many other viruses including influenza and even most other coronaviruses in order to bind to and escape from the glycans (sugars, oligosaccharides or polysaccharides) characteristic of cell surfaces and saliva and mucin. The S1 N terminal Domains (S1-NTD) of the spike protein, largely responsible for the bulk of the characteristic knobs at the end of the spikes of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, are here predicted to be "hiding" sites for recognizing and binding glycans containing sialic acid. This may be important for infection and the ability of the virus to locate ACE2 as its known main host cell surface receptor, and if so it bec

SUBMITTER: Robson B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7278709 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature