Structural similarity between HIV-1 gp41 and SARS-CoV S2proteins suggests an analogous membrane fusion mechanism https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7141560/
Abstract
SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) has been identified as the causal agent of a new emergingdisease: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Its spike protein S2 is responsible for mediatingfusion of viral and cellular membrane. In this study, we modeled the 3D structure of S2 subunit andcompared this model with the core structure of gp41 from HIV-1. We found that SARS-CoV S2 andgp41 share the same two α helices, suggesting that the two viruses could follow an analogousmembrane fusion mechanism. Further ligand-binding analysis showed that
Published 2004
This has been WIP for a very long time.
e: Added paper address. e2: Also this completely tracks with the email from Adam Gaetner to Fauchi cryptically titled "Coronavirus bioweapon production method" dated March 11, 2020 which specifically mentions mebrane fusion.
(post is archived)