COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. This is a virus that causes an infection in your nose or upper throat. It mainly spreads through person-to-person contact.
The coronavirus spike protein is a multifunctional molecular machine that enters through the host cell. The coronavirus particles are spherical and have proteins called spikes protruding from their surface. These spikes latch onto human cells, then undergo a structural change that allows the viral membrane to fuse with the cell membrane. The viral genes can then enter the host cell to be copied, producing more viruses. The spike protein exist in two structurally distinct conformations, perfusion and profusion. The transition from perfusion to profusion of the spike protein must be triggered, leading to membrane fusion. The coronavirus spike contains three segments: a large ectodomain, a single-pass transmembrane anchor, and a short intracellular tail. The spike is a clove-shaped trimmer with three heads and a turmeric stalk.
Coronavirus-host interactions are key to viral pathogenesis and will ultimately determine the outcome of infection. The virus gene is RNA which acts as a molecular message, instructing our host cell to read the template and translate it into proteins that make up new virus particles. This means that the host cell is used to create and assemble new viral particles.
Anika Panwar (Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College)
