Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2021 Feb 17;2:602572. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2021.602572

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2021 Vale, Fernandes, Guzen, Pinheiro, de Azevedo and Cobucci.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

PMC Copyright notice

(A) The SARS-CoV-2 virus presents the spike protein (S) on its surface, expressed in the form of a spike that binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) present on the surface of cells especially in the lungs, kidneys, heart, vessels, and adipose tissue. (B) Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2) cleaves protein S in units S1 and S2, making it possible for the virus to bind to ACE2. (C) The viral particle is enclosed by the cell membrane creating the endosome, which after the proteolytic action of the structural components of the virus, the viral RNA is released in the cytoplasm of the infected cell.