SARS-CoV-2 lured away and trapped by a new decoy version of ACE2

SARS-CoV-2 lured away and trapped by a new decoy version of ACE2

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By Sally Robertson, B.Sc.Aug 3 2020

Researchers in the United States and Canada have engineered affinity-optimized “receptor traps” that prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from binding to and infecting cells.

For SARS-CoV-2 to infect human cells and cause coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the viral spike protein must first attach to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the host membrane receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).