Structural and functional properties of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein: potential antivirus drug development for COVID-19

  • Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2020 Sep;41(9):1141-1149. doi: 10.1038/s41401-020-0485-4.
Yuan Huang  1 ,  Chan Yang  1 ,  Xin-Feng Xu  1 ,  Wei Xu  2 ,  Shu-Wen Liu  3  4
Affiliations
  • 1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
  • 2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. [email protected].
  • 3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. [email protected].
  • 4. State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. [email protected].
PMID: 32747721 DOI: 10.1038/s41401-020-0485-4
Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 is a newly emerging infectious disease currently spreading across the world. It is caused by a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2, which plays a key role in the receptor recognition and cell membrane fusion process, is composed of two subunits, S1 and S2. The S1 subunit contains a receptor-binding domain that recognizes and binds to the host receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, while the S2 subunit mediates viral cell membrane fusion by forming a six-helical bundle via the two-heptad repeat domain. In this review, we highlight recent research advance in the structure, function and development of antivirus drugs targeting the S protein.

Keywords
SARS-CoV-2 virus; antibodies; antivirus drugs; fusion inhibitors; host proteases inhibitors; spike protein.