Description
The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a coronavirus identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. Its genome encodes four structural proteins, i.e. spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M) and nucleocapsid (N). The spike protein (S-protein) contains two subunits, S1 and S2. S1 defines the range of the hosts and specificity of the virus, thus recognizes and binds with the cell surface receptor. S2 subunit contains basic elements needed for the membrane fusion. The spike protein is the common target for neutralizing antibodies and vaccines.