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Structure of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein for Therapeutic and Preventive Target

  • Jaewoo Hong (Department of Physiology, Daegu Catholic University School of Medicine) ;
  • Hyunjhung Jhun (Technical Assistance Center, Korea Food Research Institute) ;
  • Yeo-Ok Choi (Laboratory of Cytokine Immunology, Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University) ;
  • Afeisha S. Taitt (Laboratory of Cytokine Immunology, Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University) ;
  • Suyoung Bae (Department of Bioequivalence Division for Drug Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • Youngmin Lee (Department of Medicine, Pusan Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University) ;
  • Chang-seon Song (College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University) ;
  • Su Cheong Yeom (Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology, Seoul National University) ;
  • Soohyun Kim (Laboratory of Cytokine Immunology, Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University)
  • Received : 2020.12.30
  • Accepted : 2021.02.14
  • Published : 2021.02.28
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Abstract

The global crisis caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to the most significant economic loss and human deaths after World War II. The pathogen causing this disease is a novel virus called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2). As of December 2020, there have been 80.2 million confirmed patients, and the mortality rate is known as 2.16% globally. A strategy to protect a host from SARS-CoV-2 is by suppressing intracellular viral replication or preventing viral entry. We focused on the spike glycoprotein that is responsible for the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the host cell. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration/EU Medicines Agency authorized a vaccine and antibody to treat COVID-19 patients by emergency use approval in the absence of long-term clinical trials. Both commercial and academic efforts to develop preventive and therapeutic agents continue all over the world. In this review, we present a perspective on current reports about the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 as a therapeutic target.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF2015R1A2A2A01003472, NRF-2014M3A6A4075058, NRF-2015R1A2A1A15051472). This paper was supported by Konkuk University in 2019 and Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation. Jaewoo Hong was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health.

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