Overview:

The severe acute respiratory syndrome related novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has caused the pandemic of the respiratory diseases (COVID-19) around the world in 2020 (1). The spike glycoprotein (S) of coronavirus belongs to the type I transmembrane protein containing two subunits, S1 and S2 (2), which is also known to be the key component to bind with host cells through the interaction with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). A receptor binding domain (RBD) of S1 can recognize the cell surface receptor and the mutation of RBD could cause higher motility rate (3).

References:

1. Zhou P, et al: A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020, 579:270-89.

2. Xiao X, et al: The SARS-CoV S glycoprotein. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2004, 61 (19-20): 2428-30.

3. Lan J, et al: Crystal structure of the 2019-nCov spike receptor-binding domain bound with the ACE2 receptor. bioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.19.956235