Open AccessThe atomic portrait of SARS‐CoV‐2 as captured by cryo‐electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Fertig Tudor Emanuel,
Chitoiu Leona,
TerinteBalcan George,
Peteu VictorEduard,
Marta Daciana,
Gherghiceanu Mihaela
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.17103
Subject(s) - cryo electron microscopy , covid-19 , virus , virology , electron microscope , portrait , transmission electron microscopy , function (biology) , biology , nanotechnology , evolutionary biology , biophysics , physics , medicine , history , materials science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , optics , art history , pathology , disease , outbreak
Transmission electron microscopy has historically been indispensable for virology research, as it offers unique insight into virus function. In the past decade, as cryo‐electron microscopy (cryo‐EM) has matured and become more accessible, we have been able to peer into the structure of viruses at the atomic level and understand how they interact with the host cell, with drugs or with antibodies. Perhaps, there was no time in recent history where cryo‐EM was more needed, as SARS‐CoV‐2 has spread around the globe, causing millions of deaths and almost unquantifiable economic devastation. In this concise review, we aim to mark the most important contributions of cryo‐EM to understanding the structure and function of SARS‐CoV‐2 proteins, from surface spikes to the virus core and from virus‐receptor interactions to antibody binding.