Description
The spike (S) glycoprotein of coronaviruses contains protrusions that will only bindto certain receptors on the host cell. Known receptors bind S1 are ACE2, angiotensin-converting enzyme2; DPP4, dipeptidyl peptidase-4; APN, aminopeptidase N; CEACAM, carcinoembryonic antigen-relatedcell adhesion molecule 1; Sia, sialic acid; O-ac Sia, O-acetylated sialic acid. The spike is essential forboth host specificity and viral infectivity. The term 'peplomer' is typically used to refer to a grouping ofheterologous proteins on the virus surface that function together. The spike (S) glycoprotein ofcoronaviruses is known to be essential in the binding of the virus to the host cell at the advent of theinfection process. It's been reported that 2019-nCoV can infect the human respiratory epithelial cellsthrough interaction with the human ACE2 receptor. The spike protein is a large type I transmembraneprotein containing two subunits, S1 and S2. S1 mainly contains a receptor binding domain (RBD), whichis responsible for recognizing the cell surface receptor