SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19

Within months of the COVID-19 outbreak, scientists had solved structures of almost every SARS-CoV-2 protein. The spike protein binds the human ACE2 receptor and was the basis for the mRNA vaccines, while the main protease and RNA polymerase are targets of antiviral drugs such as nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) and remdesivir. These structures show how structural biology guided the pandemic response.

Open Spike glycoprotein, closed state in 3D

27 structures

Spike glycoprotein, closed state6VXX
Spike glycoprotein, open state6VYB
Prefusion spike with one receptor-binding domain up6VSB
One of the first SARS-CoV-2 spike structures, released in February 2020.
Spike with the D614G mutation7KRQ
Omicron variant spike7T9J
Omicron spike bound to human ACE27T9K
Spike protein encoded by the BNT162b2 vaccine7L7K
The protein that cells make from the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine.
Receptor-binding domain bound to ACE26M0J
Shows exactly where the virus grips the human receptor.
Receptor-binding domain with full-length ACE2 and B0AT16M17
Main protease with inhibitor N36LU7
Main protease (free enzyme)6Y2E
Main protease with nirmatrelvir7SI9
Nirmatrelvir (PF-07321332) is the antiviral in Paxlovid.
Papain-like protease6W9C
RNA polymerase with RNA and remdesivir7BV2
RNA-dependent RNA polymerase with cofactors6M71
nsp13 helicase6ZSL
nsp16-nsp10 RNA cap methyltransferase complex6W4H
Nucleocapsid protein RNA-binding domain6VYO
Envelope protein transmembrane pentamer7K3G
ORF3a accessory protein6XDC
ORF8 accessory protein7JTL
Receptor-binding domain with antibody CR30226W41
Spike with the S309 antibody Fab6WPS
S309 is the parent antibody of the drug sotrovimab.
Spike bound to Ty1 nanobodies6ZXN
Human ACE2 receptor (AlphaFold)Q9BYF1 (AlphaFold)
Human TMPRSS2 protease (AlphaFold)O15393 (AlphaFold)
SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (AlphaFold)P0DTC2 (AlphaFold)
A predicted model of a viral protein, for comparison with the experimental spike structures.

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