The spikes of the crown: Analyzing the proteins coronaviruses use to infect cells
Wednesday, April 8, 2020 - 07:30
in Health & Medicine
The spike glycoproteins give the coronavirus its name. The molecules protrude from the viral envelope like the spikes of a crown. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt are now analyzing the structure of this protein. They hope to identify potential targets for antibodies and inhibitors—an important prerequisite for developing new vaccines and drugs against the SARS CoV-2 virus.