A SARS-CoV-2 infection begins when the virus’s spike proteins bind to ACE2 cell surface receptors, enabling the virus to infect human cells. This key event of the receptor binding is followed by fusion of the virus and cell membranes to release the virus genome into the cell. However, the exact nature of the ACE2 binding to the SARS-CoV-2 spike remains unknown. New research uncovers new biology regarding the binding, including that the spike can adopt at least ten distinct structural states, when in contact with the human virus receptor ACE2.
