Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-sense and single-stranded RNA virus that has caused the current ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. After entering the host cells, SARS-CoV-2 starts replicating its genomic RNA to produce smaller RNAs or subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs). This virus replicates primarily in the lower respiratory tract.
How does SARS-CoV-2 infect a host cell?
The sgRNAs are involved with the production of conserved structural proteins, namely, spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N). The S protein binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor present on the host’s cell surface.
