In order to infect cells, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, needs to insert itself into the membrane of human cells. In order to infect our cells, the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, first attaches a molecule on our cell surface, but then it has to fuse with human cells. A small region of the SARS-CoV-2 outer spike protein called the "fusion peptide," inserts itself into the human cell membrane to begin the fusion process. Without knowing the three-dimensional interactions between the SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide and the cell membrane, it is not possible to design drugs that specifically disrupt that interaction. Their simulations reveal how the SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide interacts with and penetrates, the cell membrane.

Source: Mint February 25, 2021 18:22 UTC