Does the higher affinity of SARS-CoV-2 than SARS-CoV for angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor have an implication in respiratory complications?
The different affinities might mean that a smaller concentration (titter?) of sarsCov-2 than sarsCov would be required to occupy a sufficient number of receptors to produce an effect. If both viruses are present at the same time the virus with the greater affinity (smaller Kd) will bind preferentially, but the virus with the lessor affinity (larger Kd) will occupy some number of the receptors, perhaps inhibiting the other virus from binding. As reported by Wrapp et al. Science 367, 1260-1263, 2020 (and its supplement) the affinity constants differ by about a factor of 20.
This article might help
Article The SARS-CoV-2 Exerts a Distinctive Strategy for Interacting...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Biochemistry
- Enzymology
- Enzymes