Ever wonder what a human coronavirus spike protein looks like?
HKU1 is a human betacoronavirus that causes mild yet prevalent respiratory disease, and is related to the zoonotic SARS and MERS betacoronaviruses, which have high fatality rates and pandemic potential. Cell tropism and host range is determined in part by the coronavirus spike (S) protein, which binds cellular receptors and mediates membrane fusion.
Read more: http://www.rcsb.org/structure/5I08
Credit: Kirchdoerfer RN, Cottrell CA, Wang N, Pallesen J, Yassine HM, Turner HL, Corbett KS, Graham BS, McLellan JS, Ward AB Nature (2016) PubMed DOI
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