Which of the numerous membrane proteins facilitated viral entry into the cell?

What is it about?

A host epithelial cell contains many membrane single-pass and multi-pass proteins. Viruses often use one of the single-pass proteins to gain cell entry. What are the common bioinformatics and experimental approaches to identify the host membranes used by the pathogenic viruses? How effective are they? Because the host membrane proteins often serve essential functions, one should not just block the host receptors from being bound by viruses. For example, the ACE2 function is essential for the RAS pathway. If SARS-CoV-2 binds to ACE2 at a site far away from the ACE2 active site, then it is possible to design drugs that would prevent the viral binding without affecting the ACE2 function. For this reason, structural information is important. Similarly, the binding surface of the host protein and of the viral protein often carry opposite charges at certain physiological conditions. Some tissues will be more likely to have the pH favorable for the electrostatic interaction between the host and the viral proteins. If the viral receptor binding domain is positively charged, then we can quickly exclude those membrane proteins with a positively charged distal surface. The paper reviews many of these issues.

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Why is it important?

It should help biomedical scientists to identify the host membrane protein used by the viral receptor-binding domain.

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