Abstract.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) spike (S) glycoprotein alone can mediate the membrane fusion required for virus entry and cell fusion. It is also a major immunogen and a target for entry inhibitors. Recent rapid advances in our knowledge of the structure and function of this protein have lead to the development of a number of candidate vaccine immunogens and SARS-CoV entry inhibitors.
Key words. SARS, S glycoprotein, S protein, virus, fusion, entry, ACE2
Footnotes
Received 8 July 2004; accepted 12 July 2004