The virus SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the known cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The "spike" or S protein facilitates viral entry into host cells.

Now a group of researchers from Seoul National University in South Korea, University of Cambridge in UK, and Lehigh University in USA, have worked together to produce the first open-source all-atom models of a full-length S protein. The researchers say this is of particular importance because the S protein plays a central role in viral entry into cells, making it a main target for vaccine and antiviral drug development.

The details can be found in a paper , "Developing a Fully-glycosylated Full-length SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Model in a Viral Membrane" just published online in The Journal of Physical Chemistry B.

This video demo illustrates how to build this membrane system from their SARS-CoV-2 S protein models. The model-building program is open access and can be found from the home page of CHARMM-GUI by clicking on the COVID-19 Archive link , or by clicking the archive link in the header, then the COVID-19 Proteins link in the left sidebar.

Source: phys.org