Sterically confined rearrangements of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein control cell invasion.

ABSTRACT: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is highly contagious, and transmission involves a series of processes that may be targeted by vaccines and therapeutics. During transmission, host cell invasion is controlled by a large-scale (200-300 Å) conformational change of the Spike protein. This conformational rearrangement leads to membrane fusion, which creates transmembrane pores through which the viral genome is passed to the host. During Spike-protein-mediated fusion, the fusion peptides must be released from the core of the protein and associate with the host membrane. While infection relies on this transition between the prefusion and postfusion conformations, there has yet to be a biophysical characterization reported for this rearrangement. That is, structures are

SUBMITTER: Dodero-Rojas E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8456623 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature