Nature Communications (Jul 2021)

The molecular basis for SARS-CoV-2 binding to dog ACE2

  • Zengyuan Zhang,
  • Yanfang Zhang,
  • Kefang Liu,
  • Yan Li,
  • Qiong Lu,
  • Qingling Wang,
  • Yuqin Zhang,
  • Liang Wang,
  • Hanyi Liao,
  • Anqi Zheng,
  • Sufang Ma,
  • Zheng Fan,
  • Huifang Li,
  • Weijin Huang,
  • Yuhai Bi,
  • Xin Zhao,
  • Qihui Wang,
  • George F. Gao,
  • Haixia Xiao,
  • Zhou Tong,
  • Jianxun Qi,
  • Yeping Sun

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24326-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Many domestic animals, among them dogs, have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, the authors present the crystal structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) bound to its receptor, dog angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (dACE2), and show that the RBD N501Y mutation increases the infectivity and host range of SARS-CoV-2, which highlights the need to monitor emerging SARS-CoV-2 mutations in domestic animals.