Sandbox Reserved 1849: Difference between revisions

The primary goal of the mini binders is to prevent the spike proteins from binding to ACE2, and when the mini binders are bound to the spike protein, the virus is unable to anchor itself to the host protein <ref name="Longxing">PMID:32907861</ref>. Because the mini binders have a greater binding affinity than ACE2 for the spike protein, they are able to effectively prevent the entry of the virus and ultimately prevent an immune response <ref name="Longxing">PMID:32907861</ref>. Targeting this specific interaction between the COVID-19 spike protein has proven effective and is hopeful target for future therapeutics to treat the virus <ref name="Huang">PMID:32747721</ref>. LCB1 proved to be quite effective at weakening the immune response, compared to the other mini binders, which can be explained by the binding interface between the spike protein and LCB1 <ref name="Longxing">PMID:32907861</ref>.

This page will dive into the method of mini binders effectively preventing the entry of the viral SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to enter a host cell. Taking a closer look at the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, this will provide a deeper understanding of how it binds to host a cell membrane (ACE2) and give context to how the mini binders are capable of binding to it. Understanding the ACE2 receptor on host cells will give an expectation for how mini binders will bind to the spike protein, stealing the parts of the structure of ACE2 to create a protein with a greater binding affinity to outcompete ACE2.