6M0J | pdb_00006m0j

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Structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain bound to the ACE2 receptor.

(2020) Nature 581: 215-220

• PubMed: 32225176 Search on PubMed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2180-5
• Primary Citation Related Structures: 
  6M0J


• PubMed Abstract: 
  

  A new and highly pathogenic coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, SARS-CoV-2) caused an outbreak in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China, starting from December 2019 that quickly spread nationwide and to other countries around the world ^1-3 . Here, to better understand the initial step of infection at an atomic level, we determined the crystal structure of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 bound to the cell receptor ACE2. The overall ACE2-binding mode of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD is nearly identical to that of the SARS-CoV RBD, which also uses ACE2 as the cell receptor ⁴ . Structural analysis identified residues in the SARS-CoV-2 RBD that are essential for ACE2 binding, the majority of which either are highly conserved or share similar side chain properties with those in the SARS-CoV RBD. Such similarity in structure and sequence strongly indicate convergent evolution between the SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV RBDs for improved binding to ACE2, although SARS-CoV-2 does not cluster within SARS and SARS-related coronaviruses ^1-3,5 . The epitopes of two SARS-CoV antibodies that target the RBD are also analysed for binding to the SARS-CoV-2 RBD, providing insights into the future identification of cross-reactive antibodies.

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Organizational Affiliation: 
• The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure, Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Comprehensive AIDS Research Center, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Comprehensive AIDS Research Center, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. zhanglinqi@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure, Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. xinquanwang@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.