We're excited to share an intriguing article titled "Structural insights into the modulation of coronavirus spike tilting and infectivity by hinge glycans", published in the Nature Communications. The journal, presents a compelling exploration of the coronavirus spike's behavior. Researchers from Vitalant Research Institute, Stanford, and other institutions employed a combination of cutting-edge techniques to uncover the dynamic bending of the native coronavirus spike at a small hinge. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that removing the sugar cluster molecules from the spike decreases bending at the hinge and lab experiments showed mutations at the hinge renders virus less infectious. Together with the evolutionary conservation at the spike hinge across all four coronavirus genera, this study suggests that disabling the spike’s hinges could be a good way to prevent or treat a wide range of coronavirus infections with a universal therapy or vaccine.
Nature Communications is an open access journal that publishes high-quality research from all areas of the natural sciences. Papers published by the journal represent important advances of significance to specialists within each field.
Dr. Jing Jin, PhD
Dr. Graham Simmons, PhD