Elsevier

Current Opinion in Virology

Volume 47, April 2021, Pages 113-120
Current Opinion in Virology

Coronavirus entry: how we arrived at SARS-CoV-2

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2021.02.006Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has risen to shape scientific research during 2020, with its spike (S) protein being a predominant focus. The S protein is likely the most complicated of all viral glycoproteins and is a key factor in immunological responses and virus pathogenesis. It is also the driving force dictating virus entry mechanisms, which are highly ‘plastic’ for coronaviruses, allowing a plethora of options for different virus variants and strains in different cell types. Here we review coronavirus entry as a foundation for current work on SARS-CoV-2. We focus on the post-receptor binding events and cellular pathways that direct the membrane fusion events necessary for genome delivery, including S proteolytic priming and activation. We also address aspects of the entry process important for virus evolution and therapeutic development.

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