{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T15:19:10Z","timestamp":1790435950523,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,6]],"date-time":"2020-05-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1588723200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/bmj.com\/coronavirus\/usage"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Clin Pathol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The year 2020 has seen a major and sustained outbreak of a novel betacoronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus (CoV)-2) infection that causes fever, severe respiratory illness and pneumonia, a disease called COVID-19. At the time of writing, the death toll was greater than 120 000 worldwide with more than 2 million documented infections. The genome of the CoV encodes a number of structural proteins that facilitate cellular entry and assembly of virions, of which the spike protein S appears to be critical for cellular entry. The spike protein guides the virus to attach to the host cell. The spike protein contains a receptor-binding domain (RBD), a fusion domain and a transmembrane domain. The RBD of spike protein S binds to Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) to initiate cellular entry. The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 shows more than 90% amino acid similarity to the pangolin and bat CoVs and these also use ACE2 as a receptor. Binding of the spike protein to ACE2 exposes the cleavage sites to cellular proteases. Cleavage of the spike protein by transmembrane protease serine 2 and other cellular proteases initiates fusion and endocytosis. The spike protein contains an addition furin cleavage site that may allow it to be \u2018preactivated\u2019 and highly infectious after replication. The fundamental role of the spike protein in infectivity suggests that it is an important target for vaccine development, blocking therapy with antibodies and diagnostic antigen-based tests. This review briefly outlines the structure and function of the 2019 novel CoV\/SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/jclinpath-2020-206658","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,29]],"date-time":"2020-05-29T16:59:00Z","timestamp":1590771540000},"page":"366-369","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":130,"title":["Gene of the month: the 2019-nCoV\/SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus spike protein"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"73","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9982-9710","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tahir S","family":"Pillay","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41579-018-0118-9"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.2","first-page":"193-292","article-title":"The molecular biology of coronaviruses","volume":"66","author":"Masters","year":"2006","journal-title":"Adv Virus Res"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10719-006-5438-8"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2001017"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)302518"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/22221751.2020.1725399"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2012-7"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JVI.41.2.557-565.1982"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12257-62","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1000378107","article-title":"Subgenomic messenger RNA amplification in coronaviruses","volume":"107","author":"Wu","year":"2010","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/clinchem\/hvaa029","article-title":"Molecular diagnosis of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) causing an outbreak of pneumonia","volume":"66","author":"Chu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin Chem"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Corman VM , Landt O , Kaiser M , et al . Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by real-time RT-PCR. Euro Surveill 2020;25.doi:10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.3.2000045","DOI":"10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.3.2000045"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.12"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jproteome.0c00129"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2020.03.022"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.15","article-title":"Novel antibody epitopes dominate the antigenicity of spike glycoprotein in SARS-CoV-2 compared to SARS-CoV","author":"Zheng","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cell Mol Immunol"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2020.02.052"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2020.05.034","article-title":"Structural and functional basis of SARS-CoV-2 entry by using human ACE2","author":"Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shang J , Ye G , Shi K , et al . Structural basis of receptor recognition by SARS-CoV-2. Nature 2020;382.doi:10.1038\/s41586-020-2179-y","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2179-y"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2217\/fvl-2018-0008"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abb2762"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0809524106"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1407087111"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00134-020-05985-9"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.C300520200"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abb2507"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1116480"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.emboj.7600640"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.virusres.2014.11.021"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-020-15562-9"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2738-43","DOI":"10.1007\/s00018-004-4242-5","article-title":"Angiotensin-Converting enzyme 2: a functional receptor for SARS coronavirus","volume":"61","author":"Kuhn","year":"2004","journal-title":"Cell Mol Life Sci"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature02145"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33238-43","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M002615200","article-title":"A human homolog of angiotensin-converting enzyme. Cloning and functional expression as a captopril-insensitive carboxypeptidase","volume":"275","author":"Tipnis","year":"2000","journal-title":"J Biol Chem"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1161\/01.RES.87.5.e1"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2180-5","article-title":"Structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain bound to the ACE2 receptor","author":"Lan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/path.2162"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/jmv.25832","article-title":"Structural variations in human ACE2 may influence its binding with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein","author":"Hussain","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Virol"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2020.105960","article-title":"Structural and molecular modelling studies reveal a new mechanism of action of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine against SARS-CoV-2 infection","author":"Fantini","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Antimicrob Agents"},{"key":"2020081106100785000_73.7.366.38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lei C , Fu W , Qian K , et al . Potent neutralization of 2019 novel coronavirus by recombinant ACE2\u2010Ig. bioRxiv 2020.","DOI":"10.1101\/2020.02.01.929976"}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Pathology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/jclinpath-2020-206658","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,11]],"date-time":"2020-08-11T14:07:18Z","timestamp":1597154838000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/jcp.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/jclinpath-2020-206658"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,6]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,18]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/jclinpath-2020-206658"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/jclinpath-2020-206658","relation":{},"ISSN":["0021-9746","1472-4146"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0021-9746","type":"print"},{"value":"1472-4146","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,6]]}}}