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Research progress in the mechanism of coronavirus spike protein subunit 2 in mediating viral membrane fusion and its inhibitors
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Yixuan LI, Sha XIE, Hang HE, Yangang SUN
Acta Microbiologica Sinica | 2026, 66(7) : 3162 - 3179
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Acta Microbiologica Sinica | 2026, 66(7): 3162-3179
• Review •
Research progress in the mechanism of coronavirus spike protein subunit 2 in mediating viral membrane fusion and its inhibitors
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Yixuan LI, Sha XIE, Hang HE, Yangang SUN
Affiliations
  • School of Medicine, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
Published: 2026-07-04 doi: 10.13343/j.cnki.wsxb.20250828
Outline
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Coronavirus infections pose a serious threat to human health and have resulted in substantial economic losses to the livestock industry. Coronaviruses invade host cells primarily through two pathways: cell surface membrane fusion and endosomal membrane fusion. During viral entry, the spike protein subunit 1 (S1) recognizes and binds to cellular receptors, while the spike protein subunit 2 (S2) facilitates membrane fusion between the viral envelope and host cell membrane. Due to its high sequence conservation across different coronaviruses, S2 represents an attractive target for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral agents. Blocking S2-mediated membrane fusion can effectively inhibit viral infection. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of coronavirus entry into host cells, the structure and function of the spike protein, and the development of membrane fusion inhibitors. In addition, this paper discusses the challenges and future prospects in targeting S2 for antiviral drug development, aiming to provide insights for coronavirus prevention and the discovery of novel antiviral therapeutics.

coronavirus  /  spike protein  /  spike protein subunit 2  /  membrane fusion  /  inhibitor
Yixuan LI, Sha XIE, Hang HE, Yangang SUN. Research progress in the mechanism of coronavirus spike protein subunit 2 in mediating viral membrane fusion and its inhibitors[J]. Acta Microbiologica Sinica, 2026 , 66 (7) : 3162 -3179 . DOI: 10.13343/j.cnki.wsxb.20250828
Funding
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  • The China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2023M741084)
  • The National Natural Science Foundation of China(32102687)
Appendix
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Year 2026 volume 66 Issue 7
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222
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Article Info
doi: 10.13343/j.cnki.wsxb.20250828
  • Receive Date：2025-11-03
  • Online Date：2026-07-06
  • Published：2026-07-04
Article Data
Affiliations
History
  • Received：2025-11-03
  • Accepted：2026-03-01
Funding
The China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2023M741084)
The National Natural Science Foundation of China(32102687)
Affiliations
    School of Medicine, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

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表12种不同金属材料的力学参数
科
Family		 属数
Number of
genus		 种数
Number of
species		 占总种数比例
Percentage of
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Genus		 种数
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鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae 2 11 5.26 鹅膏菌属 Amanita 10 4.78
小菇科 Mycenaceae 2 12 5.74 丝盖伞属 Inocybe 5 2.39
多孔菌科 Polyporaceae 8 14 6.70 蜡蘑属 Laccaria 5 2.39
红菇科 Russulaceae 3 23 11.00 小皮伞属 Marasmius 6 2.87
小菇属 Mycena 11 5.26
光柄菇属 Pluteus 5 2.39
红菇属 Russula 17 8.13
栓菌属 Trametes 5 2.39
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