id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-338755-f5g2r4n9	Alam, Nawsad	A spike with which to beat COVID-19?	2020-05-15		.txt	text/plain	760	53	64	This month's Under the Lens discusses how structural studies of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein might guide a path towards a vaccine. Coronavirus spikes have been structurally characterized before, in particular for SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, two related viruses that have caused epidemics of respiratory disease. Shortly after this, the first structure of a neutralizing antibody bound to the RBD of the spike glycoprotein showed that SARS-CoV-reactive antibodies could neutralize the new virus 3 , and polyclonal antibody sera against SARS-CoV also proved effective 1 . Two spike-based vaccine-design strategies, developed for SARS-CoV, should be applicable. To generate the most effective neutralizing antibody responses, vaccinated individuals should generate antibodies to the pre-fusion spike, thus preventing ACE2 binding and cell entry. For this reason, structure-guided mutations have been designed that fix the SARS-CoV spike into this pre-fusion state 4 . Stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spikes, designed using this method, are therefore promising for a vaccine.	./cache/cord-338755-f5g2r4n9.txt	./txt/cord-338755-f5g2r4n9.txt