Description |
Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is one of seven known coronaviruses to infect humans, which is responsible for the common cold and may have been responsible for the 1889?1890 pandemic. The infecting coronavirus is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that enters its host cell by binding to the N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid receptor. The spike protein of HCoV-OC43 is a trimer protruding from the viral membrane to engage cellular receptors and mediate viral fusion with host membranes. Each spike trimer contains two large regions: N-terminal S1 responsible for receptor binding and C-terminal S2 responsible for fusion. |